Active Directory: General Information

Active Directory provides central authentication and authorization services for Windows based computers. Active Directory also allows administrators to assign policies, deploy software, and apply critical updates to an entire organization according to Wikipedia. The Group policy is similar to the "Local Security Policy" available on all Windows NT workstations, the Group policy sets a layer of security on top of the local machine policy; you are in charge of your own Organization Unit Group Policy, this includes:

• Mandating machines have firewall enabled.
• Allowing/disallowing installation of printers.
• Automatic Mounting of printers and network drives.
• Even small changes like forcing the classic start menu or disallowing users to lock or shutdown their machines.

OU overview- While some departments here at LSU still mange their own domains, most departments are now under the LSU Domain, but have their own Organizational Unit with unique computers, users, printers, and Group Policies. However, ITS allows a fair amount of customization and does not micromanage your OU.

LSU Forest- The LSU Domain is just one of several domains at LSU, there are others, such as the BIOSCI Domain or the SVM Domain, computers around campus will allow you to log-in to any one of these domains. (Domain Trust)

Forced Windows updates- Regardless of your Group Policy Settings, some policies are 'global' such as the downloading and automatic installation of Windows updates. Please note that this doesn't include service packs, service packs must be installed by the departmental IT support personnel. This is because such updates exert an increased load on the LSU network and also because departments have the right to plan for service packs on their own IT Timeline. See GROK for further Active Directory documentation.