D2- Typical Services from NOS Directory Service

I am now going to discuss the general advantages of authorisation, authentication management as well as active directory I will also be discussing the disadvantages of these and an overall conclusion.

Authentication management

The first point that I am going to discuss is authentication management first of the definition of authentication is I the person is allowed permission to enter a network so the admin can choose the specific credentials needed to enter the network for example at a school network where they would need a username and password. This is an example because this allows them to be able to login in at any computer on the network not just a specific PC like at home, an example of this is at school where there a many buildings with many computers in each block so if each computer is connecting to the network this will cut down on expensive as each person will not need an individual computer. Also each student will have their unique individual login this is a major advantage as there can be no confusion with logging also they will have their own password which they can change for safety reason and are also reminded to change it every year. Another good thing is that as all the credentials are stored on the server the teachers and technicians will be able to add or remove accounts if necessary also if a student forgets there password then it can be reset.   However a disadvantage of this that if someone finds out the password then they have instant access to the persons account, also it is minimal security so it would be easy to hack into network or individual user area.  Another example of authentication management is hardware tokens which can come in the form of key fobs or hardware which you swipe or scan as a form of identification this is a major advantage as you no longer to need to remember any login details as soon as have the key you can have access to the network which can also be a major disadvantage as if you were to lose the key then the person would have access to your account. Also the cost of buying the hardware tokens for every individual student will be costly as it Is not cheap which also means that if they were lost by a student it would be expensive to replace. Anyone can also access anyone’s account as long as they have the key or similar hardware anyone can pretend to be the user.
Another example of authentication management is fingerprint scanning this is a modern authentication technique the reason of why this is a good way is because it would only work for one person so not one could hack or attempt to gain access without it being you. This makes this a very high security authentication but it also the most expensive the software that it costs it allow finger print scanning is not used for regular schools or companies only expensive companies that would need the this high level of authentication. However a good thing about this is that if you easily forget passwords or logins there is no need to worry however many companies use a combination of one are two of these method in order there network to stay secure.







Active Directory
The next point that I am going to discuss is active directory first of an active directory is allows you to create and maintain multiple user accounts. For example when a new year group joins the school network the active directory is used to add all these accounts for the new students. Another example of when the active directory is used is when the year 11 students stay on for sixth from then there account is maintained as they will be staying on the school network but for all the other students they keep them on the network for another year this is just in case they need to come back to get work but after that they are removed to free up space on the server. Their name is automatically added as well as the year they joined the school so for example my is 09 as I joined the school in 2009, also so soon as the account is created it is easy to maintain as the account does not need to be created again at the start of the year this is a major advantage as there will be a couple hundred users in each year group and having to re add them all is very unpractical and time consuming. As there is a limited amount of space on the server each person is allocated 1 GB of memory on their own user area, which they can save work, pictures and videos etc.  Also the active directory allows certain users specific access for example in my current school there is a stupid public drive that everyone has access to on the network but only certain accounts like teachers have access to edit and add files to this public area whereas students can only read and open the files which is a major advantage as if every student could alter or edit the files then it would be very chaotic as with just teachers having permission then it allows them to put specific work on there. Also there is certain programmes that cannot be accessed but could be changed as it is all managed so if there was multiple servers they could be set to each do different roles for each and also allows the network as a whole to run smoother as a whole. Also it makes it easier to access groups and to edit or change them in any way, also then adding groups will be much less hassle when adding or removing specific users as the basics have already been created. The disadvantages are that unless you are familiar with the set up you will struggle and if you get a single bit wrong then then you will have to restart it all over again. As it not something you can just pick up and learn so if the operator of it is not experienced it can create problems such as reinstallation and so on.
 Along with the complication of the active directory another problem is that if there was a technical difficulty and the active directory went down this would create many problems in the school network. This would cause major disruptions with work and teachers lessons so is a necessity that precautions are made to prevent this and this is why the initial setup is very important. The other obvious disadvantage being the cost if it went wrong but also the software it is specifically designed for windows but this is good for our particular schools because all of our PC’s are windows but for school that are not then they would have to have the equivalent for the appropriate operating system.  





DNS
The last the thing that I am going to discuss is that the domain name server or DNS for short. This has previously been used discussed but I am going to talk more in depth and both the advantages and disadvantages. The main purpose of the domain name server is to locate specific addresses on a network via their name instead of their individual IP address making it easier to locate them. An example of this is if you want to go on Google.com you can type that address in and the DNS will find out the IP and translate is so saves you from typing the long IP address. This is used to locate and help a particular network run smoothly for example in our school if there was a problem with one of the computers but didn’t know which one they could find out the IP address then from that the computer name in order to fix the problem which is a major advantage. Also another example is that in our school there is various buildings so if a student want to send work such as through printing they are only limited to various options. For example a couple of rooms down is allowed but in different buildings across the school is not saving money from unnecessary printing or work that may get lost.

Bibligraphy 

http://www.imprivata.co.uk/products-and-solutions/authentication-management/onesign-authentication-management

http://www.ehow.com/list_6464570_advantages-domain-name-service.html

http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/answer/Advantages-and-disadvantages-of-DNS-on-domain-controllers

http://a201165.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/active-directory-advantages-and-disadvantages/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa746492(v=vs.85).aspx