M3 Technology Group

Active Directory is the true heart of Windows 200x domains. Its proper functioning is critical to the network and the many applications relying on it. It manages the identities and brokers the relationships between distributed resources so that they can work together. Further, a directory service is a place to store information about corporate and organizational assets such as applications, files, printers and users. When Active Directory is underperforming or compromised, access to all associated resources is compromised as well.

As the networking environment changes, organizations that have implemented Microsoft Windows Active Directory need to make sure that Active Directory is configured and operating properly. Even an Active Directory that is properly installed can easily have components fail or stop working, which causes problems with the Windows networking environment. Companies that have multiple address books and varying levels of features and functionality in different systems find this engagement particularly useful. With a properly configured Active Directory, it’s easier to enact policy across the corporation.

Experts recommend that an organization should run an Active Directory HealthCheck at least every quarter, with some very large enterprises that have made it a best practice to run subsets of the Active Directory HealthCheck daily. As collaborative environments mature and change, Active Directory must be properly maintained and groomed to support these changes. For instance, an environment can see changes within some of the following areas:

• Rapid increases in size or activity of user community
• Increased integration with external systems
• Increased mobile or remote users
• Dramatic increases in storage requirements that lead to strains on archiving and backup systems

M3TG’s Active Discovery is designed to evaluate the overall status of an Active Directory environment. This process is intended to determine where problems may exist that could negatively impact the performance or capabilities of the environment.
Active Discovery examines the current Microsoft directory service environment, detects any deficiencies or problems and provides appropriate recommendations. Active Discovery covers the following areas:

• Service pack and hot fix status
  Assess currently installed service packs, patches and hot fixes to determine if there are any deficiencies.
• Active Directory replication status
  Are AD objects replicating correctly? Assess Active Directory replication and any related issues.
• DNS status
  Examine aspects of DNS environment (DDNS registrations, zone transfers, etc.) to determine if there are any issues relating to DNS.
• Site topology
  Assess site topology to determine if it matches physical topology for efficient AD replications and logins.
• Global Catalog distribution
  Are Global Catalogs located where they should be in the network? Are there enough GCs, yet not too many that they create inefficiencies? Assess and determine if Global Catalog distribution is optimal for environment.
• Schema health
  Assess AD schema and determine if there are any inconsistencies within the schema.
• FSMO role distribution
  Determine if FSMO roles are properly distributed in the AD environment.
• Backup and recovery procedures
  Assess if client is backing up AD properly, and if they have appropriate AD recovery procedures in place.
• Fault tolerance / High availability capacity
  Assess the environment for AD fault tolerance and high availability.

A healthy Active Directory ensures a strong user experience, from access to critical systems to quicker logon time, more reliable resource usage and decreased help desk support issues. Contact M3TG today to schedule your Active Directory HealthCheck.