Active Directory Planning and Deployment Guide

Most IT admins rarely deploy Active Directory, often only once every few years, making each deployment feel like starting anew. With over two decades of managing AD environments—from small offices with one domain controller to global networks with hundreds—I’ve encountered nearly every issue imaginable and learned to avoid them.

That’s why I created the Active Directory Planning And Deployment Guide. A clear, field-tested guide covering planning, setup, security, and validation.

To save hours of guesswork and deploy AD like a pro, simply get your copy of this guide.

This guide/checklist is structured to 5 phases:

• Planning and Requirements

• Environment Preparation

• Active Directory Installation and Configuration

• Securing and Hardening

• Validation and Monitoring

Each phase further contains 10-20 specific tasks including tools or commands that you can use to accomplish them.