Example creating 500 Active Directory test users with DSC

MSFT_ADUser.config.ps1

$computersContainerDistinguishedName = (Get-ADDomain).ComputersContainer
if ($computersContainerDistinguishedName -match 'DC=.+')
{
    $domainDistinguishedName = $matches[0]
}

$ConfigurationData = @{
    AllNodes = @(
        @{
            NodeName                = 'localhost'
            PsDscAllowPlainTextPassword = $true

            DomainDistinguishedName = $domainDistinguishedName
            UserNamePrefix          = 'DscUser'
            DisplayNamePrefix       = 'Dsc User'

            Password                = New-Object `
                -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential `
                -ArgumentList @(
                    'AnyName',
                    (ConvertTo-SecureString -String 'P@ssW0rd1' -AsPlainText -Force)
                )

            AdministratorUserName  = ('{0}\Administrator' -f $domainDistinguishedName)
            AdministratorPassword  = 'P@ssw0rd1'
        }
    )
}

Configuration MSFT_ADUser_Create500Users
{
    Import-DscResource -ModuleName 'ActiveDirectoryDsc'

    node $AllNodes.NodeName
    {
        1..500 | % {
            ADUser ('MSFT_ADUser_CreateUser{0}_Config' -f $_)
            {
                DomainName = $Node.DomainDistinguishedName
                UserName = '{0}{1}' -f $Node.UserNamePrefix, $_
                UserPrincipalName = '{0}{1}' -f $Node.UserNamePrefix, $_
                DisplayName = '{0} {1}' -f $Node.DisplayNamePrefix, $_
                PasswordNeverExpires = $true
                Password = $Node.Password

                PasswordNeverResets = $true

                DomainAdministratorCredential = New-Object `
                    -TypeName System.Management.Automation.PSCredential `
                    -ArgumentList @(
                        $Node.AdministratorUserName,
                        (ConvertTo-SecureString -String $Node.AdministratorPassword -AsPlainText -Force)
                    )
            }
        }
    }
}

# ~26 seconds
Measure-Command -Expression {
    MSFT_ADUser_Create500Users -OutputPath C:\DSCTest -ConfigurationData $ConfigurationData
}

# https://github.com/powershell/sharepointdsc/wiki/Error-Exceeded-the-configured-MaxEnvelopeSize-quota
Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\MaxEnvelopeSizeKb -Value 2048

# Create ~93 seconds
Measure-Command -Expression {
    Start-DscConfiguration -Wait -Force -Path c:\DSCTest
}

# Enforce ~32 seconds
Measure-Command -Expression {
    Start-DscConfiguration -Wait -Force -Path c:\DSCTest
}