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Active Directory
Sign in to saveAlso known as AD, MS AD, MS Active Directory
directory service created by Microsoft for Windows domain networks
Official website
Active Directory Domain Services overview | Microsoft Learn
Find out about Active Directory Domain Services, a directory service that makes network resource data available to authorized network users and administrators.
docs.microsoft.com →Link to the official site · 6,922 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
Show 2 more facts
- publication date
- 1999-00-00
- Stack Exchange tag
- stackoverflow.com/tags/active-directory
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~28 min read
Article
Active Directory (AD) is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks. Windows Server operating systems include it as a set of processes and services. Originally, only centralized domain management used Active Directory. However, it ultimately became an umbrella title for various directory-based identity-related services.
A domain controller is a server running the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) role. It authenticates and authorizes all users and computers in a Windows domain-type network, assigning and enforcing security policies for all computers and installing or updating software. For example, when a user logs into a computer which is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted username and password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or a non-admin user. Furthermore, it allows the management and storage of information, provides authentication and authorization mechanisms, and establishes a framework to deploy other related services: Certificate Services, Active Directory Federation Services, Lightweight Directory Services, and Rights Management Services.