Introduction to Desktop Management
Introduction to Desktop Management |
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You can centrally define computing environments for users and computers and ensure that users get the correct environment by using IntelliMirror features: User Data Management, Software Installation and Maintenance, and User Settings Management. By using these features, you can add new users and computers, define settings for organized groups of users and computers, and apply changes to groups of users. Furthermore, by using IntelliMirror technologies, you can restore user settings if a computer fails and ensure that desktop settings follow the user if they roam to another computer.
The technologies that support User Data Management and User Settings Management are the same; the main difference between the technologies is how the user perceives them. Although a user is usually very aware of his or her data, the same user might not be aware of settings. Settings are what you control. For example, users do not need to know where they are located in the Active Directory and that various Group Policy settings have been applied.
What is available at the desktop level depends on your network configuration and specifically what Group Policy settings have been applied. You have the flexibility to tightly manage some computers on the network while loosely managing other systems. You control the information and the software that a user can access. The user does not need to be involved. Settings can also include the data that applications need to preserve the user state, such as a user's custom dictionary, .ost files, and data that controls the look and behavior of applications. Users care only that they can easily access the data that they need.
The remainder of this chapter describes a few of the settings to configure when managing the desktop: user and computer configurations, user profiles, and the features that support roaming and mobile users.
Group Policy is your primary tool for defining and controlling how software, network resources, and the operating system function for users and computers in an organization. In an Active Directory environment, Group Policy is applied to users or computers on the basis of their user or computer accounts that exist in sites, domains, or organizational units. Users and computers are the only types of Active Directory objects that receive policy.
User Configuration User Group Policy settings are the settings located under the User configuration node in Group Policy, which affect users and are obtained when a user logs on.
Computer Configuration Computer Group Policy settings are located under the Computer Configuration node and affect computers. These settings are obtained when a computer starts.
By using Group Policy, you can control the behavior of the client computer and determine the characteristics of the client computer user environment. You can use Group Policy to manage items and software available on the desktop. Group Policy enhances a roaming user's experience by enabling organizations to do the following:
For more information about Group Policy and how the snap-in extensions expand the capability of the standard Group Policy settings, see "Group Policy" in this book.