Active Directory
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 05/12/2021

Active Directory, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2807 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Active_Directory
#Directory_services
#Microsoft_server_technology
#Windows_components
#Windows_2000
Active Directory （AD） is a directory service developed by Microsoft for Windows domain networks.
It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services.
Initially, Active Directory was used only for centralized domain management.
However, Active Directory eventually became an umbrella title for a broad range of directory-based identity-related services.
A server running the Active Directory Domain Service （AD DS） role is called a domain controller.
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 that is part of a Windows domain, Active Directory checks the submitted password and determines whether the user is a system administrator or normal user.
Also, it allows 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.
Active Directory uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol （LDAP） versions 2 and 3, Microsoft's version of Kerberos, and DNS. Like many information-technology efforts, originated out of a democratization of design using Request for Comments （RFCs）.
The Internet Engineering Task Force （IETF）, which oversees the RFC process, has accepted numerous RFCs initiated by widespread participants.
For example, LDAP underpins Active Directory.
Also X.500 directories and the Organizational Unit preceded the Active Directory concept that makes use of those methods.
The LDAP concept began to emerge even before the founding of Microsoft in April...