AD & LDAPZero to Hero
Self-paced · Lab-driven · One VM to start

Master Active Directory & LDAP, one lab at a time.

Built for an experienced IT professional who is new to AD. Every session ends with a hands-on lab on a single Windows Server VM — you don't finish a session by reading it, you finish it by doing it.

Track your progressBrowse the curriculum
20
sessions
2
tiers
4
core pillars
100%
hands-on labs

The mental model

Four pillars, kept separate

Most AD confusion comes from blurring these together. The course reinforces the boundaries the whole way through.

Directory store
The object database — users, computers, and groups as data.
LDAP
A protocol to read and write that directory.
Authentication
How identities are proven — Kerberos and NTLM.
DNS
How clients find domain controllers in the first place.

Two tiers, honestly framed

Competent Admin, then Zero to Hero

Tier 1 · Sessions 1–10
Competent Admin
Zero to a functional, working administrator. Not mastery — a solid, honest foundation you can actually operate from.
Tier 2 · Sessions 11–20
Zero to Hero
Competent to genuinely deep: enterprise AD depth, hybrid identity with Entra Cloud Sync, and modern SSO / federation. Authored later.

The syllabus

Twenty sessions, each with a lab

Tier 1 — Competent Admin

  1. 01Orientation & the mental model→
  2. 02Promote your first Domain ControllerComing Soon
  3. 03The object modelComing Soon
  4. 04Groups and group scopesComing Soon
  5. 05LDAP, hands-onComing Soon
  6. 06DNS and joining a clientComing Soon
  7. 07Group Policy basicsComing Soon
  8. 08PowerShell for ADComing Soon
  9. 09Structural depthComing Soon
  10. 10Add a second DC (stretch)Coming Soon

Tier 2 — Zero to Hero

  1. 11Sites, Subnets & Replication TopologyComing Soon
  2. 12Advanced Group PolicyComing Soon
  3. 13Delegation & AGDLP at ScaleComing Soon
  4. 14Backup, Recovery & DisasterComing Soon
  5. 15Entra ID FundamentalsComing Soon
  6. 16Connecting On-Prem to Cloud (Entra Cloud Sync)Coming Soon
  7. 17Hybrid Join & Seamless SSOComing Soon
  8. 18Conditional Access & Modern Access ControlComing Soon
  9. 19Federation Foundations & ClaimsComing Soon
  10. 20App Integration & SSO with Entra as IdP (Capstone)Coming Soon

Available sessions link through to their content. “Coming Soon” entries unlock automatically as each session is authored.