Disadvantages to joining a domain?

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VulcaN

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
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On active directory I do not have a profile set for my username, so I assume this will keep everything stored on the local computer when I log onto the domain.

So are there any disadvantages to connecting my workstation to the domain? For example, what happens if the DC is down (this happens often, because this is a test lab).

Programs I install when I am connected to the domain that store data in the documents folder might not work properly when the DC is down and I have to logon to the local machine??
 
Well it all depends on how the domain profiles are set up. If you map the my documents folder to a netowrk share and the network is down then yes it will effect the programs that store data there. On the other hand when you log into a domain, presuming you dont use roaming profiles, all the user data is still stored locally. If the Domain Controller is down the computer will still be able to log in using cached credentials, but once again, anything stored or mapped to the DC will not be available. Also, even if you are on a domain you can still log into the computer locally, regardless of the OS. XP and 7 do it slightly different but it still works. Is this a DC your setting up at home?
 
User credentials are cached, so if you have logged in once with your AD credentials you will beable to logon if you have no network access or the DC is down. You have nothing really to worry about.

edit: too slow
 
Can also set up offline files to sync, but that does get annoying. Or Roaming Profiles can be set so your setting follow you from computer to computer
 
If you are using roaming profiles they are downloaded at login and uploaded at logoff, so if the network is down at the time, any server side changes would not propagate, but you should still be able to work.

Much better to use folder redirection for Desktop and My Docs with Offline Files and then roam the rest of the profile.
 
As said all depends how you set it up, you can keep everything local on your computer, or you can do a roaming profile, or map items to save to a NAS and so on.
 
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