Active Directory (AD) is vital for Windows networks. As organizations expand, AD can get disorganized. Consolidating it can save money and simplify management. Plus, the Active Directory consolidation means combining different information folders into one place to make it more manageable. Hence, this guide is made for those users, who need the proper AD consolidation project plan, and checklist to make the task flawless.
What is Active Directory Consolidation?
This involves merging various components of a computer network into a unified system. It’s akin to combining different sections of a library into a single organized catalog. This process simplifies network management, improving efficiency and reducing costs.
Users need to consolidate in situations when businesses change, like when companies merge or reorganize internally. Keep in mind, if businesses don’t do it on time, they might have problems like users not working as well. So, they need to keep up with these changes to stay competitive.
Before starting with the solution, every user needs to know some best practices to make the procedure hassle-free. For the same, you don’t need to go anywhere as the following section describes that.
Also read: What is Active Directory Migration?
Explaining: Active Directory Consolidation Best Practices
For a perfect consolidation, let’s go through the AD consolidation project plan, and remember don’t skip any of them, and it’s to your advantage to do this:
- Make a detailed plan with goals, schedules, and how to communicate.
- Test the plan to fix any problems before doing it for real.
- Move all kinds of things like users, groups, and settings.
- Communicate with users and inform them about the changes so they’re not confused.
- Make sure users can still use their data while moving things.
- Use tools to make moving information easier and avoid mistakes.
- Monitor transition, to fix any issue if occurs.
Expert Suggested Solution for Active Directory Consolidation
For the transition, there is no reliable manual method present. So, it is quite necessary to opt for the SysTools Active Directory Migration Tool. Plus, this solution is available for free with its demo version, so you can try this, and if you find this is as efficient as you expected. Then, you can buy its full version, and gain the benefits of advanced functionalities.
This utility is highly recommended, especially for users dealing with large volumes of data migration, as it can transfer information concurrently. Additionally, if you’re concerned about having to redo the entire task for newly arrived data, worry not. This tool provides an option that allows you to specifically migrate only current information.
You simply need to download it at no cost, and follow the steps mentioned below for Active Directory consolidation:
- Open the specified tool.
- Log in with ‘administrator’ as both the username and password.
- Once logged in, click on ‘Register Domain Controller’. Enter the Domain Friendly Name and its IP Address, then save by clicking ‘Save & Continue’.
- Provide the Admin User and Password, then click ‘Save & Continue’. Make sure the Domain tab shows a green status.
- Repeat the registration process for the secondary Domain Controller.
- Choose the source domain and click ‘Fetch Active Directory Objects’ to see its structure.
- Go to the Migration tab and choose ‘Create Migration Scenario’. Name the scenario, select Source and Destination Domains, and save by clicking ‘Save & Continue’.
- Match objects from the source to the destination, then validate your choices.
- Start the migration by clicking ‘Start Task’. Once done, review the details by clicking the info icon.
Observational Verdict
Nowadays, Active Directory consolidation is common in many organizations. But still, some of those companies do not know how to perform this transition. Therefore, this write-up explains the overview of the same, and the best solution to proceed with the task with a proper AD consolidation project plan.