7 Things You May Not Have Considered About NAP

By now you're more than aware that Network Access Protection is an important feature of Windows Server 2008. If you're still not sure what it's all about, then here's a quick summary from the Intro to Network Access Protection paper:

NAP allows network administrators to define granular levels of network access based on who a client is, the groups to which the client belongs, and the degree to which that client is compliant with corporate governance policy. If a client is not compliant, NAP provides a mechanism to automatically bring the client back into compliance and then dynamically increase its level of network access.

The Network Access Protection team turned its blog over to Mark Foust, a Windows Server Networking Technical Specialist working down in Tampa, Fla., yesterday for a review of seven things you may not have considered about NAP.

I'll rundown the seven points here, but for the details you'll have to check out Mark's blog post.

1. NAP enforces minimum consistency levels, not maximum security
2. NAP doesn’t care much about your user login
3. NAP’s greatest initial advantage is REPORTING
4. NAP should not be viewed as a forklift type of upgrade or enforcement mechanism.
5. NAP will highlight your weak operational issues.
6. You will need to make some exceptions for NAP
7. NAP will become a foundational part of your infrastructure
   

Also of NAP interest: NAP FAQs.