Windows Server 2003 Network Administration

Chapter 13. Network Security Administration

Security is an integral part of network administration . It’s not something that should be bolted on afterward, but rather it needs to be built into any properly designed and managed network, much as we build in reliability, maintainability, and performance. To help in the fulfillment of this goal, this book weaves in the appropriate security information within all topics. However, it is also important that network administrators understand the overall security framework on which the continuity of the Windows network lies, and how that fits within the organization’s information security management process. In addition, advanced networking configuration is often predicated by security needs.

This chapter explores the following areas:

• An organization’s security administration framework, including the network administrator’s role in establishing that framework.

• The underlying Windows security posture , including permissions and privileges, delegation of authority, role separation, centralized administration with Group Policy, and security templates.

• Configuring advanced network security features, including Encrypting File System (EFS) over Web Distributing, Authoring, and Versioning (WebDAV), Private Key Infrastructure (PKI), Server Message Block (SMB) integrity, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) security, and using SMTP for Active Directory (AD) replication.

Our discussion begins with a look at security administration framework. ...