Active Directory
My Active Directory paper covered how a business manages users and computers in one place. Instead of setting up accounts separately on every computer, administrators can manage them through Active Directory Domain Services.
I had studied authentication and access control for Security+. This assignment gave me more detail about how those ideas apply to a Windows domain. Authentication checks who a user is. Authorization determines what that user can access after signing in.
I also wrote about how Active Directory is organized. A forest can contain multiple domains. Organizational units divide users and computers into smaller groups within a domain. A business could use these groups to organize different departments.
Domain controllers store the directory and handle sign-ins. Changes are copied between them through replication. If an administrator changes a password, that change needs to reach the other domain controllers too.
Protecting Active Directory
Security was another part of my paper. An administrator account can make major changes to a domain. If someone steals that account, they could change permissions or create accounts that should not be there.
This is why least privilege matters. Users should have the access they need for their jobs. Administrator accounts should also be kept separate from accounts used for everyday work.
My paper discussed keeping domain controllers updated and checking privileged groups. Accounts that are no longer needed should be disabled. Protected backups and a recovery plan are also important if something goes wrong.
PowerShell
My fifth research assignment included PowerShell and its use in managing a Windows domain. PowerShell gives administrators a way to complete tasks through commands. Those commands can also be saved in scripts for work that needs to be repeated.
The Active Directory module includes commands for finding users and computers. It also has commands for creating accounts and managing groups. This gives administrators another way to handle account changes without opening each account separately.
I also used PowerShell in my firewall labs. I checked the firewall profiles and reviewed rules created for the lab. In the TCP/IP security lab, the tasks included creating a temporary block rule and removing it afterward.
What I Took Away
Using PowerShell in the labs helped me understand it better. I ran commands to check the firewall profiles and find the rules I had created. I could see the settings right in the results.
My paper covered how PowerShell can also manage Active Directory accounts. I still need more practice with those commands. I would like to learn how to use them for account changes instead of doing each change manually.
I need to understand a command before I run it, especially when it changes someone’s access. Afterward, I would check the account to make sure I changed the right setting.
Research Papers
Active Directory Domain Services – Research Assignment 4
Subnetting and PowerShell – Research Assignment 5