My First AD Domain: OUs, GPOs, Hardening, and Lessons Learned
Problem: Lack of hands-on experience with Active Directory
Solution: Build it myself in a homelab
I wanted to deepen my understanding of Active Directory because, in every environment I’ve worked in, AD was the backbone of everything — but I only ever saw it from the outside. Any time I needed something changed, I had to submit a ticket to the system administrators, and my permissions were always limited.
As I move further into cybersecurity and information technology, I realized I had gaps in my knowledge that I couldn’t fill just by reading documentation or watching videos. So I built a homelab to finally get hands-on experience with the parts of AD I never had access to before.
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