Network Administration
Group Policy – An Administrator’s Management Tool
You can simplify network management with this powerful tool
By Scott Murphy
There are increasing demands for network administrators to improve the reliability and security of the servers, laptops and workstations on the network. Administrators can improve reliability and security through better control and management with group policy. This does not mean preventing changes on these network endpoints, but rather controlling the computer to act in a specific way based on the business need and the employee using it.
This is a tall order, but Microsoft has given administrators a management tool that they can use to meet many of these requirements. This often under used and under appreciated tool is Active Directory’s Group Policy. Group Policy is a powerful tool that can help administrators simplify network management, automate many policies and procedures, manage network growth from a central location, and lock/hide settings from inquisitive users.
Thousands of uses
There are literally thousands of potential Group Policy settings and uses, but some of the most popular uses are:
- Patch Management using Group Policy in conjunction with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to deploy patches to groups of computers on a schedule
- Workstation security control, such as Windows XP software firewall settings including on and off, and exceptions including different settings when a laptop is off the network
- Controlling remote desktop access to Windows XP workstations
- Assigning and managing login scripts (e.g. map shared folders and printers)
- Control of roaming profiles, redirection of local folders (e.g. My Documents), and synchronization
- Blocking profiles on groups (e.g. administrator workstation profiles are blocked when logging into servers)
- Controlling encryption of data on mobile laptops
- Controlling default Internet Explorer pages and settings
- Installing applications to workstations based on who logs into a computer.
The key to being able to take advantage of Group Policy is in the design of your domain’s Active Directory. Creating and structuring your Active Directory Organizational Units to match how your network is administrated and how your business operates is the secret to allowing you to control your environment in a very granular manner. You can then create and apply policies that fit the needs of the computers or users in that Organizational Unit. Couple this with Domain Security Groups and you can have great control of the workstation and servers on your network.
Active Directory’s Group Policy is a powerful tool in the hand of an experienced network administrator. It can simplify network administration, improve IT governance, improve reliability, improve security, improve scalability and save time.
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