Three hundred PCs, one change
A college wants every PC to lock its screen after five minutes. A technician could walk to 300 PCs and change each one.
Or the technician could make the change once, in one place, and let every PC pick it up. That is what a domain is for.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Domain | a group of computers and accounts that are managed together |
| Directory | a central list of accounts and devices |
| Active Directory | Microsoft's directory service: AD DS means Active Directory Domain Services |
| OU | organisational unit: a folder inside the directory that holds accounts and devices |
| Security group | a set of accounts that can be given the same permissions |
| Distribution list | a set of email addresses that share one address |
| GPO | group policy object: a set of settings applied to the accounts or devices in an OU |
| Profile | the settings and files that belong to one user |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can explain what Active Directory and group policy do, and say which GPOs apply to a user.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Active Directory: one place for accounts
Active Directory keeps every account in one central list. It holds user accounts and device accounts. It also holds security groups, which give the same permissions to many accounts, and distribution lists, which share one email address.
Everything sits in OUs, like folders. OUs make it easy to manage a part of the college on its own.
What lives in Active Directory
| Object | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| User account | A person who can sign in | amira.khan |
| Device account | A computer joined to the domain | LAB1-PC07 |
| Security group | Accounts that share permissions | Maths-Teachers |
| Distribution list | Accounts that share an email address | all-staff |
| OU | A folder that holds the above | Staff, then Teachers |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: Active Directory
Have a go
Check: Active Directory
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.