2024

Nickell Constance
8/20/2024 Practical Project 24001
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
 OBJECTIVE.
Final Practical Project Assignment Structure: Setting up OU Structure and Network Configuration
in Windows Server Environment

Objective: The objective of this assignment is to demonstrate proficiency in setting up an Organizational

Unit (OU) structure in Windows Server 2012 R2, creating user accounts, joining a Windows 10 client to
the domain, configuring shared folders, and testing connectivity between the client and server.

Assignment Components:

1. Introduction:
 Brief overview of the assignment objective and its significance in understanding Active Directory
organization and network configuration in Windows environments.
2. Task Instructions:
 Detailed step-by-step instructions for completing each task:
a. Logging on to the Windows Server 2012 R2 using the required credentials.
b. Creating the main OU structure called "NESC OU" and its sub-units (WDS, Groups, Servers,
Main Campus).
c. Creating additional sub-OUs (Exchange, Print, SQL, Administration, and Information
Technology Department) as specified.
d. Creating two standard user accounts for the Administration OU and setting their passwords.
e. Configuring user account permissions to prevent password changes.
f. Connecting the Windows 10 client and Windows Server 2012 R2 server with a networking
switch.
g. Logging into the server's domain using one of the created accounts from the Windows 10
client.
h. Testing connectivity between the client system and the server by pinging the server.
i. Creating a shared folder named "NESC TEST" on the C: drive of the server and enabling access-
based enumeration and caching.
j. Creating a sub-folder named "PRACTICAL" within the "NESC TEST" folder and a text file called
"Exams" inside it.
k. Setting permissions for the "PRACTICAL" folder to allow full control for the created users.
l. Logging into the Windows 10 client to access the shared text file from the server.

3. Discussion:

 Explanation of the significance of organizing OUs in Active Directory and configuring shared
folders for user access.
 Discussion on the importance of testing network connectivity and verifying access permissions
for shared resources.
4. Submission:
 Guidelines on how to submit the completed assignment, including any screenshots or
documentation, through the specified platform or as instructed by the instructor.
5. Assessment Criteria:
 Accuracy and completeness of OU structure setup and user account creation (30%)
 Proper network configuration and connectivity testing between client and server (25%)
 Correct configuration and permissions for shared folders (15%)
 Report Organization, screenshot evidence and structure clarity of the assignment (25%)
 Report Submission or Late Submission (5%)
 Late Submission: Please be advised that a late submission of final report will incur a penalty of
minus 5% from the overall course work grade score. It is important to adhere to the specified
deadlines to avoid any deductions in your grades.
 INTRODUCTION.
The OUs can be used to form a hierarchy of containers within a domain. OUs are used to group
objects for administrative purposes such as the application of Group Policy or delegation of
authority. Control (over an OU and the objects within it) is determined by the access control lists
(ACLs) on the OU and on the objects in the OU. To facilitate the management of large numbers
of objects, AD DS supports the concept of delegation of authority. By means of delegation,
owners can transfer full or limited administrative control over objects to other users or groups.
Delegation is important because it helps to distribute the management of large numbers of
objects across a number of people who are trusted to perform management tasks.
On this report, I am going to explain/describing the steps of using both a Client computer
(Windows 10) and a Server (Windows Server 2012 R2).
 DISCUSSION.
1. The Explanation of the significance of organizing OUs in
Active Directory and configuring shared folders for user
access.
The Organizations can require robust security measures to protect their IT infrastructure.
An Active Directory (AD) provides precise and accurate security controls to ensure data
confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It allows for the easy application of specific
security controls to different objects using Organizational Units. By linking Group
Policies (GPOs) to OUs, administrators can implement targeted settings for groups of
users or devices. Additionally, AD facilitates easy delegation of administrative tasks,
enabling the assignment of specific permissions to business users for OU management.
For instance, helpdesk technicians can be granted the ability to reset passwords for all
domain users or restricted to managing passwords for users within a specific child OU.
This flexible approach streamlines administrative processes and strengthens security by
ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to relevant data and resources.

2. The Discussion on the importance of testing network

connectivity and verifying access permissions for shared
resources.

A Connectivity Tests is a diagnostics tool that lets you check connectivity between a
network endpoints. It analyzes your configuration and, in some cases, it performs live
data plane analysis between the endpoints. An endpoint is a source or destination of
network traffic, such as a VM, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) cluster, load balancer
forwarding rule, or an IP address on the internet. To analyze network configurations,
Connectivity Tests simulates the expected forwarding path of a packet through your
Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network, Cloud VPN tunnels, or VLAN attachments.
Connectivity Tests can also simulate the expected inbound forwarding path to resources
in your VPC network. For some connectivity scenarios, Connectivity Tests also performs
live data plane analysis. This feature sends packets over the data plane to validate
connectivity and provides baseline diagnostics of latency and packet loss. If the route is
supported for the feature, each test that you run includes a live data plane analysis result.
 REFERENCES.
iainfoulds. (n.d.). Understanding the Active Directory Logical Model. [Link].
[Link]
directory-logical-model
Marshall, S. (2024, April 5). What is an Organizational Unit (OU) in Active Directory? Lepide
Blog: A Guide to IT Security, Compliance and IT Operations.
[Link]
Connectivity Tests overview. (n.d.). Google Cloud. [Link]
intelligence-center/docs/connectivity-tests/concepts/overview