Active Directory Fundamentals

Multi-forest Active Directory environments rarely fail because “DNS is down.” They fail because the DNS namespace was delegated without a clear model of authority, replication boundaries, referral behavior, and the operational ownership that follows. Delegation is not just about who answers a zone; it’s about where the “truth” of a name lives, how that truth is discovered from other…

Self-Service Password Reset Integration with Active Directory (AD) Self-service password reset (SSPR) reduces helpdesk tickets, improves user productivity, and shortens recovery time during lockouts or forgotten passwords. The integration challenge is simple: users want one reset experience, while organizations still rely on on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)…

Reviewing User Attributes for Gaps (Active Directory) User attributes are the “identity data layer” your directory runs on. When attributes are missing, inconsistent, or stale, the problems show up everywhere: authentication quirks, broken email routing, licensing mistakes, access drift, failed audits, and messy offboarding. …

Comparing Native vs Third-Party User Management Tools (Active Directory & Hybrid) User management in Windows environments rarely stays “just ADUC.” Once you add scale, audits, hybrid identity, and delegated administration, you’re really solving a lifecycle problem: create, modify, grant access, review, and retire identities—reliably…

Removing “Password Never Expires” Accounts in Active Directory The “Password never expires” setting (the DONT_EXPIRE_PASSWORD userAccountControl flag) is one of those legacy conveniences that quietly turns into a long-term security and compliance problem. This article shows how to find these accounts, decide what “good” looks like per account type, and remove the…

Ensuring Compliance for Dormant and Shared Accounts Dormant accounts and shared accounts are two of the most common identity-control gaps in Active Directory and hybrid environments. They create audit findings because they weaken accountability (who did what?) and increase attack surface (stale credentials, over-permissioning, and silent…

Aging Analysis of User Accounts A first-principles approach to reducing access risk, cleaning identity sprawl, and improving audit readiness. What “aging analysis” means: Aging analysis is the practice of classifying user accounts by time-based signals (e.g., last sign-in, last password change, time since creation, and time since last entitlement…