Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is a Microsoft product which was initially released with Windows 2000 Server and revised with additional features in Windows Server 2008.

AD consists of several services that runs on Windows Server to manage permissions and access to networked resources.

AD stores data as objects.

An object is a single element, such as a user, group, application or device, such as a printer.

Simply, AD is a database that keeps track of all objects in an organization.

AD categorizes objects by name and attributes, for instance, the name of a user might include the name string, along with information associated with the user, such as passwords and Secure Shell (SSH) keys.

It serves as a single data store for quick data access to all users and controls access for users based on the directory’s security policy.

It allows you to store your user accounts and passwords in one protected location, improving your organization’s security.

Thus, AD information is used to authenticate/authorize the users, computers, resources which are part of a network.