The book targets a wide audience ranging from the merely curious right up to NT administrators looking at migrating to Windows 2000. The author starts with a gentle introduction to Active Directory explaining its purpose and structure and how trees and forests fit into the big picture. Without delay she whisks you on to planning and building your first structure where you'll see the close relationship between Active Directory and DNS, find out how to create a logical structure and measure available bandwidth using the trial software on the accompanying CD-ROM.

Migration tactics compare Windows NT and 2000 domains and the section on upgrade options also includes some useful hints on switching from Novell NDS, UNIX and even Banyan Vines. The tour's next destination is Managing Active Directory and the section on administering users is supported by plenty of screen shots.

The author's efforts to cut through the jargon do leave this book lacking in some areas and the technically aware would be better served with Alistair G Lowe-Norris's Windows 2000 Active Directory. However, the author's easy-going style and slightly irreverent approach will be appreciated by many, making this an ideal introduction to Active Directory.--Dave Mitchell