Active Directory and Group Policy Management Best Practices

A properly thought-out and designed Active Directory (AD) structure can help with the cumbersome task of maintaining Domain Services for an environment. Microsoft provides built-in tools that enable organizations to control the services necessary for maintenance and troubleshooting of an Active Directory environment. A wide range of information on this topic is available from various sources and of varying quality.

The following guide focuses on considerations for designing and building an Active Directory management program, best practices for Group Policy Management (GPM), and their relationship to the CIS Benchmarks™ and CIS Build Kits.

Please note that this guide does not cover hybrid or Entra-joined AD scenarios.