What is Active Directory Migration? A Detailed Discussion

In the search for What is Active Directory migration. Let’s take a look at AD first. Active Directory was developed by Microsoft to provide the ease of managing the details of the users such as network resources and permissions. AD acts as the environment which consists of several units like organizational units, domains, trees, and forests. The AD uses the data store to collect the information on the servers, printers, etc.

The Active Directory provides different services such as AD Domain service. This service is used to store the details of the objects such as usernames, permissions, and many more.

However, due to some of the situations such as the merging of organizations the AD needs to be migrated to the destination system. It is a challenging task because it needs to migrate the different objects to the destination. Let’s go deep into the AD migration.

What is Active Directory Migration?

The Active Directory runs on the Windows Server due to which it is not migrated easily. During the development of the Active Directory, Microsoft applied some group policies to determine what the user and computer can and cannot do. As it stores all the details of the objects then the schema of the AD should be designed carefully. Before performing the migration of Active Directory to the destination. You should consolidate and restructure the AD.

What is Restructuring and Consolidatation in AD?

During the design of the Active Directory, some of the key areas can be modified easily. But some of the areas are tricky ones. For instance, changing the security groups and organization units is an easy task because it does not affect the roots of the Active Directory. On the other side, the modifying schema in AD can affect the AD and raise several issues.

So, it is advised to not modify the Active Directory until the situation can be handled. The accounts in AD are consolidated easily if required. However, the restructuring took more time and effort. However, restructuring and consolidation are advised before the migration.

How the Consolidation and Restructuring Fits Together?

In the continuity of discussing what is Active Directory migration. Let’s see the consolidation and resurrecting. If the consolidation or restructuring is discussed means the Active Directory is migrated to the destination location. Before the migration, the destination should be clean and ready for the Active Directory.

To get the latest features in the Active Directory, you can also upgrade the Active Directory using the updation of the Windows server. The Active Directory uses four categories.

1. AD Domains and Forests — The forest is the combination of multiple domains having a trust relationship between them. Forest also provides a security boundary.
2. Domain Name System — It is used to provide naming conventions to the organizational structure.
3. Data Store — Stores all the information and manages it for all the domain controllers.
4. Schema — It is used for structuring the Active Directory which classifies the type of data.

After setting up the AD, sometimes it does not give the results as per the expectations, Now, you need to restructure it as per the requirement to get the expected results.

How the Active Directory Migration Takes Place?

After getting a good understanding of what is Active Directory Migration. Now, the time is to find the process for migration. The Active Directory migration does not take place easily. You need to make sure that the current and destination point is ready to take the changes. Do a proper verification in both environments whether it is source or destination.

In the current environment, remove the unwanted accounts that do not require to migrate.

Do not go with the migration blindly, prepare a complete plan for efficient migration.

Take the backup of the essential data that you do not want to lose at any cost. Also, discover the plan for recovery and rollback in case of failure of the Active Directory migration.

After getting the things ready not execute the actual migration. Before running the actual migration test the process by using the test environment. As the migration takes a lot of time. So, make sure that the process does not affect the productivity of the users.

Perform Active Directory Migration

Now, after knowing what is Active Directory migration. This is the time to know the reliable solution for migrating Active Directory to the destination. You can choose the SysTools Active Directory Migrator for efficient migration.

The Admins are also struggling with the Active Directory migration but this tool makes the process much even for non-technical persons. You do not need to worry about data integrity and security. Here you will find the complete data security throughout the process. You only need to execute the below steps.

Step 1. Download and log in to the tool. Click on the Register Domain Controller for both domains.

Step 2. Using the Source & destination domains. Select the Fetch Active Directory Objects.

Step 3. Now create a migration scenario and Task.

Step 4. Click on the Create option and hit the Start Task button.

Conclusion

As per the several situations, the admins need to perform the Active Directory migration. However, due to the lack of knowledge, they struggled a lot. Therefore through this article, we have explained what is Active Directory migration and how it performs.