What Is Active Directory?

Key takeaways

• Active Directory is a live service for Windows servers that helps organize data and information for managing permissions and access.

• Microsoft Active Directory stores data as objects, such as passwords, user accounts, and devices, making them easy to find.

• Active Directory is used for streamlining the creation and deletion of accounts, setting permissions, resetting passwords, and managing information and resources, all in one place.

Both logical and physical components comprise Active Directory, which organizes its administrative structure and server infrastructure. Read on for an overview of what Active Directory is, what its structure entails, and how companies benefit from using it.

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What is Active Directory?

Active Directory (AD) is a live directory service running on a Microsoft Windows server that stores account login data and information that administrators need to manage permissions and access to network resources. It holds important information about user accounts within an organization, including personal details such as job titles, phone numbers, and passwords, as well as various permissions.

In AD, the data is structured and stored as objects, keeping it easy to find. Objects include user accounts, user passwords, groups, applications, devices such as printers and computers, and file shares.

Microsoft Active Directory structure

Active Directory is made up of both logical and physical components. Logical components comprise the administrative structure IT professionals use to manage the network and include organizational units, domains, trees, and forests:

• Organizational units: Organizational units (OUs) arrange domains hierarchically into containers to streamline the organization of users, groups, computers, tools, and other objects. They are the smallest unit within the Active Directory. For instance, a company might create OUs for its HR, finance, and marketing departments, or OU's for types of devices, such as laptops, servers, printers, and workstations. Each OU has specific permissions and policies, with some access levels being stricter than others.

• Domains: A domain is a logical collection of objects on the same Active Directory, such as users or devices. These represent branches of the trees.

• Trees: A tree is a group of domains organized hierarchically. Parent domains link to child domains, all of which stem from a single root domain.

• Forests: Multiple trees combine to make a forest, which is the highest level within the Active Directory. The trees within a forest form a security boundary and can trust each other to share information within the AD.

Members of staff granted different permissions is an example of the AD structure. They may have different domains, but are grouped together according to their same permissions as trees. This results in many domains and trees, but only one single forest (the organization).

The physical components of Active Directory make up the server infrastructure. Examples include servers that maintain information about users and other objects within the Active Directory database, domain controllers that store copies of objects, and other hardware.

What are Active Directory groups?

Active Directory allows managers to group user accounts, enabling them to apply the same action to everyone in that group without interacting with each user individually. Distribution groups are for email distribution, and security groups are for assigning access permission.

Benefits of an Active Directory connection

Active Directory has many benefits that can help organizations ensure the accessibility and security of their information:

• Create and delete accounts: With a new employee, you only set up one account with Active Directory rather than an account for each computer, printer, app, and shared file. The same is true of deleting accounts for employees who leave the organization.

• Set permissions: You set permissions for whole groups of domains at the same time, rather than having to do this for each individual user.

• Reset passwords: You can easily reset a password using Active Directory, with the new password updating across the whole network automatically.

• Access a hierarchy: Active Directory is a simple way for you to order your organization's hierarchy, determining who has access to what and how objects can be accessed.

• All in one place: Active Directory creates a single point to manage information and resources, with a search function to find objects quickly. Having one place to access a structured network is highly efficient.

Related terms

• Network administrator

• IT support

• IT skills

• IT certification

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