Active Directory Domain Services
Domain controllers with integrated DNS and DHCP, organisational units that match how the business is actually structured, and a second DC so the domain does not rest on one machine.
Products › Identity & infrastructure
Windows Server
& Active Directory
One account per person, one place to revoke it, and policy that applies whether the machine is in the office or not. We design and run the domain — and supply the Windows Server 2022 licensing sized to what you actually have.
2022Windows Server licensing
AD DSDomain, DNS, DHCP, GPO
RADIUSVPN and wifi on one account
MigrationWithout user-visible downtime
What we do
The directory is the
access control
Most "security incidents" in a small business are really access problems — a leaver whose account still works, a shared password, a laptop nobody applied policy to. A properly run domain removes that whole category.
Group Policy
Drive mappings, printers, security baselines, password and lockout rules applied per department — consistently, instead of configured once per machine and forgotten.
NPS / RADIUS
VPN and wireless authenticated against the same domain account, so disabling one user closes every door at once rather than most of them.
File & print services
Shared folders with permissions that follow the OU structure, shadow copies for the file somebody deleted, and print queues managed centrally.
Upgrades and DC migration
Moving the domain onto new hardware or a newer Windows Server release, with FSMO roles transferred and the old controller demoted cleanly — planned so users do not notice.
Backup and DR for the domain
System state backups, a tested restore path, and the domain replicated to standby hardware. Losing the directory means nobody can log in anywhere — it deserves its own plan.
Licensing
Windows Server 2022,
licensed correctly
Server licensing is where a lot of businesses quietly overpay or accidentally fall out of compliance. We supply the licences and size them against your real hardware — not against a guess.
Standard or Datacenter
Both are licensed by physical core, not by server. Which one is right depends entirely on how many virtual machines you intend to run on the box.
- Standard — suits a physical server or a light virtualisation host
- Datacenter — for hosts running many VMs, where per-VM licensing stops making sense
- Core count must cover every physical core in the server, with a minimum per processor and per server
CALs — user or device
The server licence alone does not permit anyone to connect. Every user or device that accesses it needs a Client Access Licence, and choosing the wrong type is the most common overspend.
- User CAL — better when one person uses several devices
- Device CAL — better for shared machines on shifts
- Remote Desktop needs its own RDS CAL on top of the base CAL
What we do before quoting
- Count
- Physical cores and processors per server — the number the licence is actually based on
- Plan
- How many VMs the host will run now and in a year, which decides Standard vs Datacenter
- Access
- Headcount and shared devices, to pick the CAL type that costs less for your shape
- Existing
- What you already own — reusing valid licences is usually the biggest saving available
Also supplied
- Windows 11 Pro
- Workstation licensing for machines joining the domain
- RDS
- Remote Desktop Services licensing where staff work from a session host
- Deployment
- Installation, domain join and policy rollout as part of the same engagement
- Records
- A written record of what is licensed and where, so an audit is a lookup
Licence terms and editions are set by Microsoft and change over time. We quote against the terms current at the time of purchase and put the sizing in writing.
Deployment and licensing in one quote
How many servers and
staff are we licensing?
Core count per server, how many VMs you plan to run, and headcount — that is enough for us to size it and tell you whether you already own more than you need.