Summary is a practical, hands-on tutorial designed for IT pros new to Active Directory. It skips the theory and concentrates on the day-to-day administration tasks you need to know to keep your network running smoothly. Just set aside an hour a day for a monthlunchtime would be perfectand you'll be comfortable and productive with Active Directory before you know it.About the BookAt the heart of your Windows network is Active Directory, the control center for administration, security, and other core management functions. If you're new to Active Directory administrationor if you find yourself unexpectedly thrust into that roleyou'll need to get up to speed fast. is a hands-on tutorial designed for IT pros new to Active Directory. Without assuming previous administration experience, the book starts by walking you through the most important day-to-day system management tasks. You'll learn how to administer AD both from the GUI tools built into Windows and by using PowerShell at the command line. Along the way, you'll touch on best practices for managing user access, setting group policies, automating backups, and more.This book assumes no prior experience with Active Directory or Windows administration. Examples are based in Windows Server 2012Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.What's InsideAbout the AuthorRichard Siddaway is an experienced all-around Windows administrator with two decades of experience. He's the author of , and coauthor of .Table of ContentsPART 1 MANAGING ACTIVE DIRECTORY DATAPART 2 MANAGING GROUP POLICYPART 3 MANAGING THE ACTIVE DIRECTORY SERVICEPART 4 MAINTENANCE AND TROUBLESHOOTING