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Business File And Resource Security - Domain Controllers

ABC Computer Solutions
Oct 15, 2015
3 min read

Many businesses large and small share files across their network and all start in the same place. Businesses Typically start doing this by simply sharing files and folders from one computer to the other, hosting data directly from one PC to another between all of the computers in their office. There are many different problems with using this approach from security, management of files and shares, to increased network traffic and slower computer speeds. So if their are so many problems with Sharing from computer to computer what is a better way of handling this task? Businesses that want a more streamlined approach to their network and systems use whats called a domain controller to centrally manage all of these problems. Having a domain controller in place greatly improves upon security which is the number one reason a business owner should be looking at a domain controller for their network. In the eyes of an IT Professional having a domain controller in place helps greatly with management of a network as all file sharing, authentication, etc. all takes place from one centralized location. Having a centralized location to manage everything also decreases problems and troubleshooting times in the event of an issue as it is easy to determine what needs to be examined with a domain controller in place. There are many benefits to having a server/domain controller in place but we are going to discuss a couple of the big ones here.

The most important reason a business should have a domain controller in place is security. When a domain controller is in place it can also double as a file server. Having it double as a file server makes it possible to keep all of your businesses confidential data off of individual workstations and thus in creases security. The reason this is an increase in security? Lets say someone broke into your office and stole a bunch of workstations, with no company data on those computers only mapped network shares, they have no accessibility to the data. If they managed to get my workstations why not the server? Good question, ideally you should have your server under physical security as well. The best way of doing this is a ventilated room that remains locked at all times and only certain people have access to. Having key fobs or other security in place to keep record of who has been in and out of the server room is great too! Once all of your files are stored on a server login scripts can be used on a per user basis to give access to whatever network resources they are allowed access to from the server. Permissions on the resources on the server ensure that even if a user is smart enough to attempt to map new drives to the server they cannot access anything that their account does not have access to. Another avenue of increased security is the ability to have password management in place. Rule can be setup on the server to force users to change their passwords every x amount of days, a requirement for many different compliance standards. Let's talk about benefits outside of security. Having a domain controller in place helps cut down drastically on network traffic. Rather than all of a businesses workstations having to communicated with each other, all authentication takes place at the server and greatly cuts down on traffic to and from your workstations. If a network is large enough it may be beneficial to further separate roles on the server to more precisely determine what you want each server to be doing. For example if the network is large enough you may just want the domain controller handling authentication requests and not taking care of delivering resource as well. Having a server/domain controller in palce can be extremely beneficial to all businesses large or small. Waiting until your business is large to implement one just makes it more difficult and time consuming when the time comes to make the switch. If you start out with the proper infastructure in place it can more easily grow with you as time goes on. Businesses do not need to invest in a large fancy server starting out but it would certainly be beneficial to have one in place in the beginning. If you think your business might benefit from a server give us a call to see what we can do for you! For more information visit us online at www.abccsg.com