Riordan Manufacturing Active Directory

Riordan Manufacturing Active Directory Implementation Plan

POS/421 – Windows Server Networking

May 7, 2012

Overview

Riordan Manufacturing has a home base in San Jose California with two other locations, Albany Georgia, and Pontiac Michigan, and one in Hangzhou China (which is a joint venture). When the parent company obtained these other companies, they had different IT networks with similarities among China and San Jose, Pontiac and Albany. A newly planned integrative network to improve efficiency, timing, and financial status will lead to an upgrade on the server software and restructuring the Active Directory.

Riordan Manufacturing is moving into a new chapter of their existence. Upgrading their technology is a major part of this transition. Riordans goal should include unification of all locations with the same systems and language to increase productivity, efficiency, revenue and security

The Active Directory

The Active Directory (AD) warehouses the domain information in a mutual format; this includes user and group accounts, computers, access lists, printers, and other information. The AD components are the domain, tree, forest, organizational unit (OU), and schema. The domain contains all the objects and resources needed by Riordan Manufacturing to do the day-to-day work. The AD can be made up of more than on domain which permits each facility to separate their material from other parts of the organization. The Tree is the structural element that ensures the scalability of the AD and will aid in the hierarchical structure for Riordan Manufacturing ("Microsoft TechNet", 2012). Another hierarchy within the trees is organizational units (OU), which will contain logical administrative needs for Riordan Manufacturing ("Microsoft TechNet", 2012). Once two or more domain trees are required, a Forest can be formed. The Forest will combine multiple trees with the same schema, configuration, and catalog. Each Forest will contain...