In Windows Active Directory, both Domain Admins and Administrators groups possess elevated privileges, but their scope differs fundamentally:

// Simplified AD group relationship
Domain Admins (Global Group) → Member of → Administrators (Domain Local Group)
                             → Inherits → Workstation Admin rights via GPO

When to use Domain Admins:

• Cross-system administration tasks (e.g., deploying software to all workstations)
• Managing domain-wide Group Policy Objects
• Creating and managing domain user accounts

When to use Administrators:

• DC-specific maintenance (e.g., patching domain controllers)
• AD database management tasks
• FSMO role administration

# PowerShell example for proper group delegation
# Grant Domain Admins access to all workstations
Get-ADComputer -Filter * | ForEach-Object {
    Add-ADGroupMember -Identity "Administrators" -Members "Domain Admins" -Server $_.Name
}

# Restrict Administrators group to DCs only
$DCs = Get-ADDomainController -Filter *
foreach ($DC in $DCs) {
    Set-ADGroup -Identity "Administrators" -Server $DC.HostName 
                -Remove @{Member="Domain Admins"}
}

For granular control in enterprise environments:

1. Create specialized admin roles using AD Delegation Wizard
2. Implement Restricted Groups in Group Policy
3. Utilize Just-In-Time (JIT) administration with PAM

While Domain Admins are members of the Administrators group, their permissions aren't identical:

• Domain Admins gain implicit rights on all domain-joined systems
• Administrators group has no inherent rights on member servers/workstations
• Permission inheritance flows differently through group nesting

The fundamental distinction lies in their scope of control:

• Domain Admins: Enterprise-wide privileges across all domain-joined systems (DCs, workstations, servers)
• Administrators: Machine-local privileges limited to specific domain controllers

// Example: Checking group nesting via PowerShell
Get-ADGroupMember "Administrators" -Server YourDomainController | 
Where-Object {$_.objectClass -eq "group"} |
Select-Object name,objectClass

// Expected output would show Domain Admins as nested group

Key observations:

• Domain Admins get added to local Administrators group during domain join
• Enterprise Admins (forest-level) also nest into Administrators
• Permission inheritance follows: Enterprise Admins → Domain Admins → Administrators

When to Use Domain Admins

# Example: Domain-wide operations requiring PSRemoting
Invoke-Command -ComputerName (Get-ADComputer -Filter *).Name -ScriptBlock {
    Install-WindowsFeature -Name "FS-Resource-Manager"
} -Credential (Get-Credential "DOMAIN\DomainAdmin")

When to Use Local Administrators

# Example: DC-specific maintenance tasks
$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName DC01 -Credential (Get-Credential "DOMAIN\LocalAdmin")
Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock {
    Stop-Service -Name NTDS -Force
    Perform-ADDatabaseMaintenance
}

Recommended practices:

• Implement Privileged Access Workstations for Domain Admin use
• Configure AdminSDHolder protection (60-minute refresh cycle)
• Audit using SACL (Security Access Control List) modifications:

# Audit script for Admin group changes
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Security" -FilterXPath @'
*[System[EventID=4728 or EventID=4729 or EventID=4732 or EventID=4756]]
'@ -MaxEvents 50 | Format-Table TimeCreated,Message -Wrap

Three-tier administration model:

1. Enterprise Admins (Forest root operations)
2. Domain Admins (Daily domain management)
3. Server Admins (Delegated via OU-based groups)

# Example of delegating rights at OU level
$ou = "OU=Servers,DC=domain,DC=com"
$group = "ServerAdmins_WebTier"
dsacls $ou /G "$($group):RPWP;computer"