After you perform a high-level assessment of your current environment and determine your Active Directory deployment goals, you can determine the deployment strategy that works best for your environment. Figure 1.3 shows the steps for defining the Active Directory deployment process.
Figure 1.3 Determining Your Design and Deployment Strategy
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The Active Directory deployment strategy that you apply varies according to your existing network configuration. For example, if your organization currently runs Windows 2000, you can simply upgrade your operating system to Windows Server 2003. If your organization currently runs Windows NT 4.0 or a non-Windows network operating system, however, you must design an Active Directory infrastructure before you upgrade to Windows Server 2003.
Your deployment process might involve restructuring existing domains, either within an Active Directory forest or between Active Directory forests. You might need to restructure your existing domains after you deploy Windows Server 2003 Active Directory or after organizational changes or corporate acquisitions. You can also restructure domains from a Windows NT 4.0 environment to an Active Directory forest in order to upgrade your production environment to Windows Server 2003.
Table 1.1 lists the possible starting points and goals for a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory deployment and the corresponding deployment steps and topics in this guide that apply to each.
Table 1.1 Current Environment, Goals, and Corresponding Topics for Deploying Windows Server 2003 Active Directory
Table 1.2 lists the goals and corresponding topics that apply to restructuring domains either within or between forests.
Table 1.2 Goals and Corresponding Topics for Restructuring Active Directory Domains