Tag - Active Directory

How to migrate from Windows Server Active Directory to Azure AD and Microsoft 365 Business (including Teams) in 5 easy steps

Microsoft 365 Business is a very compelling platform for the small business, particularly those that are "born in the cloud," or, those who have shed most of their on-premises server weight already, by moving their line of business apps to cloud-based alternatives. I can't tell you how many clients I...
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Soft (SMTP) vs. Hard (immutableID) matching with Azure AD Connect

If you are setting up Directory Synchronization from scratch (there are no users in the cloud yet), then Azure AD Connect will be pretty straightforward--the on-premises objects (and passwords if you choose that option) will be synchronized to the cloud, and you can assign services to the user accounts from...
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How to manage permissions with Active Directory (the right way)

How do most people use Active Directory groups to manage permissions?  You probably already know the answer: Global security groups. For example, if there is a directory on the file server specifically for "Payroll," then we normally see folks creating a Global security group that corresponds to "Payroll," populating that...
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Warning: Domain Renames are Not Recommended (or Supported)

I have recently run into a couple of different scenarios wherein I've been asked to fix domain rename operations gone awry.  After having worked through this process extensively twice now, I thought I'd post about my experience, in case this helps anyone else avoid the same troubles. To begin, you should know...
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Benefits to keeping an On-Premises Active Directory Domain

I have seen an alarming trend in the small business market--as more and more companies offload their IT infrastructure to cloud-based applications and services (which is great in many cases), many of them are also starting to abandon older tools and platforms such as on-premises Active Directory. This I cannot agree...
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Remove SBS 2008 or SBS 2011 Source Server from the domain

Sorry Old Yeller--I know you were a faithful companion for many years--but it's time to put you down, buddy. I usually wait until the end of the migration project for this. There is no harm leaving the old server as-is for the duration of the project while you finish migrating file shares, DHCP, Remote Access...
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Active Directory Migration from SBS 2008 or 2011 to Windows Server 2016

There are three basic options for migrating Active Directory from Small Business Server--(1) you can move into Windows Server Essentials or (2) Windows Server Standard. Furthermore, (3) you can move to Windows Server Standard, and enable the Essentials Experience role afterward, which is what I typically recommend if you are interested...
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