Arguments for Branch Office Environment 1

[Knutern]

Does any one have good arguments as to why someone should move from one single AD-domain with multiple sites to multiple domains, with one top level domain?

Cheers
Knutern

 

[porkchopexpress]

Current thinking is that most organisations should be able to exist under one domain even MS is supposedly using one domain now. One reason is if two branches of a company need very separate policies or need to be separated for corporate reasons.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Here is a good link to read about this.

http://www.samspublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=32080&seqNum=5&rl=1

 

[Knutern]

I should also mention, that in our case, a hub and spoke configuration is wanted. And this seems to work, only if you have a branch office environment? At least, I have not found any other documents saying otherwise.

Take this one for example Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Branch Office Guide.

Cheers
Knutern

 

[Knutern]

A little more information: we're a company spanning over four locations, some 1,200 Users and 800 computers.

At some stage, someone decided that replication within the domain should always take place through main office. And so, hub and spoke was born (at least sort of). Why, i do not know.

But, this network has been managed by many different admins, thus our AD kind of lives it's own life

When i first installed SP1 for Windows Server 2003 for example, the replication died almost immediately. So in order to get it work again, i had to remove SP1. Then later on, i installed SP1 again - when business was down - and I walked through the branch office guide, and finally got it replication again, only, as a full mesh. No hub and spoke any more. I still experience very strange problems now and then, they simply come & go.

I am seriously considering builing up a complete new AD, which has trusts to the old one for migration purposes, but I would let the "old" AD die when users, etc. are migrated.

So here I am.... Looking for a way out of this AD hell. It need not be a hub and spoke, but anything other than the chaos currently in place, 'cus' it's killing me softly.

Cheers
Knutern

 

[technome]

Agree with Porkchopexpress, one domain is the way to go. Multiple domains are logical for a comany which might split, company composed of multiple companies, possible company with branches with extreme security needs, companies which aquire other companies which have a domain already. With multiple domains I would worry about the increased network management costs.



........................................
Chernobyl disaster..a must see pictorial

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/default.htm