Talk:What is the Azure Directory
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is Microsoft's cloud-based enterprise identification and access control (IAM) system. Azure AD is the backbone of the Office 365 system, and it syncs with the on-premise Active Directory and provides authentication to other cloud-based platforms via OAuth.
In the 2021 pandemic, Microsoft Teams saw a drastic 70% rise in the number of Teams users within a single month. Although it's not clear the percentage of users who are unfamiliar with Azure AD, we can think that the pandemic of 2020 has accelerated the adoption and the deployment of Azure AD to meet the needs of remote workers.
Each employee of the company is required to access Azure solutions to perform their job. As explained in the Azure Certification, the Azure solutions allow access to services like SQL databases machine learning, machine learning, or Azure container service when administrators assign an individual account ID as well as password for each service. Administrators and employees often have difficulty managing multiple logins of users at the same time. This is a major issue for administrators within an organization that has more than 1000 employees.
This is where Azure Active Directory (AD) is an essential component. With Azure AD administrators can manage multiple logins for users without issue. Administrators need to choose one username password to access every service they require.
What does it mean to be an Azure Active Directory? Azure Active Directory, Microsoft's multi-tenant cloud-based identity system, and directory management. For enterprises, Azure AD helps employees to sign up for multiple services and connect at any time, from anywhere on the cloud with just one pair of credentials to log in.
Windows AD vs. Azure AD Windows Active Directory (AD) was the initial version for Azure AD. Active Directory (AD) is an OS directory service that aids in the use of complicated interconnected networks, as well as other resources in a seamless manner. The biggest drawback of Windows AD was that it contained various layers, each that performed different tasks. The layers below are described as follows:
ADDS Windows Active Directory Domain Services ADDS allows administrators to manage logins for users and other details.
ADLS - Azure Data Lake Storage Services This layer allows you to keep any type of information or size.
ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) Active Directory Federation Services This layer allows you to make use of a single method to register to gain access to every application and system.
ADCS is Active Directory and Certification Services This layer allows administrators to customize services to process issues of certificates to the public.
ADRMS Active Directory Rights Management Services ADRMS is a powerful security tool that assists in the protection of information. Administrators are required to manage a large number of layers in the context is Windows AD. This is where Azure AD has transformed the game completely. It has consolidated the five layers into 2 layers. Two layers include:
WAAD - Windows Azure Active Directory
This layer combines all the challenges related to managing identities. WAACS - Windows Azure Access Control Service
This layer permits sharing or federation of the services provided by an organization. This process involves assigning users to specific services. This is why Azure AD can solve a variety of problems with only two layers. For example, Office 365 uses Azure AD to manage user identities. To use any of the Office 365 services like Excel, PowerPoint, or Microsoft Word, the administrator will only require a single username and password.
Customer Service There are three types of people who can be found in Azure Active Directory:
IT administrators Application developers Online customers IT administrators IT administrators manage all methods to sign in. They also address issues with authentication.
Application Development Application developers utilize these services to build applications. This development process is swift due to the abundance of resources accessible.
Internet Customers They utilize services such as Office 365, and CRM services and can meet every need quickly.
Azure AD Connect for Hybrid Deployments Azure AD Connect Azure AD Connect is Microsoft's answer that allows an interdisciplinary Windows AD and Azure AD deployments. Azure AD Connect syncs data between on-premise DCs as well as the cloud.
Azure AD Connect will let users sync their accounts created on their own server to an Azure tenant. It also allows encryption, password hash synchronization, and pass-through authentication. It also allows health monitoring and federation.
The features let your users share the same ID and password both on-premises and in the cloud. They also make it easier to manage your hybrid environment. In short, you'll require Azure AD Connect if you have a hybrid system.
As a sysadmin or security professional, it's essential to ensure that the security solutions provide the complete picture of each user, regardless of whether they're using cloud-based or on-prem resources. Varonis Data Security Platform, for instance. Varonis Data Security Platform for instance allows you to identify a user and track their activities within Azure AD as well as Windows AD. Although there are two repositories for users behind the back, Varonis treats them as individual users with a complete user profile that includes cloud and on-prem activities.