What is Active Directory?
Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for managing resources on a Windows domain network. It’s essentially a central database that stores information about all the users, computers, printers and other devices connected to the network. At Infinity Group, we help organisations optimise their AD environments to ensure secure, efficient access control and streamlined IT management across their infrastructure.
Here’s a breakdown of key aspects of Active Directory:
What does Active Directory do?
- Centralised management: Provides a single point of administration for all domain resources, simplifying user and device management.
- Authentication and authorisation: Authenticates users logging onto the network and authorises their access to specific resources based on permissions assigned to their user accounts or groups they belong to.
- Security: Enforces security policies like password complexity requirements and access controls to safeguard network resources.
- Group policy: Allows administrators to configure settings and policies that apply to groups of users or computers, ensuring consistency across the network.
- Scalability: Can accommodate large and growing networks with thousands of users and devices.
Components of Active Directory:
- Domain: A collection of computers and resources that share a central database and security policies. Think of it as a logical group within the network.
- Domain controllers (DCs): Servers that store and replicate the Active Directory database, ensuring all DCs have the latest information.
- Objects: Represent entities like users, computers, printers, and groups within the directory. Each object has attributes that define its properties and permissions.
- Organisational units (OUs): A way to organise objects hierarchically within the directory, simplifying administration for large networks.
Benefits of Active Directory:
- Improved security: Centralised authentication and authorisation enhance network security by controlling resource access.
- Simplified management: Easier to manage user accounts, groups, and device permissions from a single location.
- Scalability: Can grow and adapt to accommodate expanding network needs.
- Group policy: Ensures consistent settings and configurations across the network.
- Integration with Microsoft services: Integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products like Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory.
Microsoft Azure Active Directory:
While Active Directory is traditionally used for on-premises networks, Microsoft also offers Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) for cloud-based environments. Azure AD provides similar functionalities for managing user identities and access in Microsoft’s cloud services like Office 365 and Microsoft Teams.
Is Active Directory still relevant?
While cloud-based solutions are gaining traction, Active Directory remains a core component for many on-premises Windows networks. It offers a robust and familiar directory service for managing resources and user access.
