Directory Services
Directory Services represent a way to provide an organised method for identifying assets on a networked computer system (whether it is a WAN or LAN). Acting like a database, it contains information about networked hardware, applications, services, data files, folders, users, groups (of users), address books, permissions and the relationships that connect them
Active Directory
Active Directory is a directory service implemented by Microsoft for Window Domain Networks. An active Directory domain controller authenticates and authorizes all users and computers in a Windows domain type network – assigning and enforcing security policies for all computers and installing or updating software. For example; when a user logs into a computer that is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or a normal user.
Account Management
In a business every computer will be connected to a directory server, this then enables all the computers on a network to be managed by the ‘Account Management’ section in the Active Directory, the idea behind this is that each account on the network will have different rights and permissions with certain accounts there will be administration rights and others will be the basic rights. For example; someone who has a basic account on the network will be able to access the local files and folders like the ‘Local Disc (C:)’ but other accounts like who have administration rights will be able to personalise different settings via the Control panel. Account management depends on the person’s job for a company or just being on a network, for personal rights and the administration rights being decided on the job or the role. Networked systems with domains allow personnel within a company to be managed by associating them with a variety of user groups. Each group may provide the user with access to different resources, such as files, directories printers or servers. User groups can be associated with the allocation of privileges; some users may only have read only access, while other users have read and write access.
DNS
The Domain Name System is a distributed database system that can serve as the foundation for name resolution in a TCP/IP network. DNS is used by most internetworking software such as web browsers and electronic mail programs, to locate servers and to solve or map a user friendly name of a computer to its IP address. Although DNS is commonly associated with the internet, private networks also use DNS for the following benefits:
Convenience – User friendly names are easier for people to remember
Consistency – IP addresses may change but the server names can remain constant
Simplicity – Users need to learn only one naming convention to find resources on the internet.
Every time you use a domain name, therefore a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example; the domain name www.example.com might translate to 198.105.232.4. The DNS system is, in fact its own network. If one DNS server doesn’t know how to translate a particular domain name, it asks another one, and so on until the correct IP address is returned.
All of these services will be required for a server Active Directory will be located on an Authentication server which will be used for the usernames and passwords for people being authorized to log onto your network. Account Management also will be on the Authentication server as it will be required for deciding different rights and permissions for different users which is practically controlling the safety on each account and access rights for adjustable and customizable features of a computer. DNS will be on an Infrastructure server which will rename a computer on a network to a certain number, it will order computers in a numbered order for technicians being able to solve problems simply and be able to locate a computer which is in need of repair or if