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What is the difference between Active Directory and Azure AD?

Last updated on September 25, 2022 @ 12:25 pm

Active Directory and Azure AD are two different types of directory services. Azure AD is Microsoft’s cloud-based identity management service that provides single sign-on capabilities and identity federation for organizations of all sizes.

Active Directory is Microsoft’s enterprise identity platform that provides centralized authentication and authorization for users, applications, and services in an organization.

Active Directory is more comprehensive in its feature set, and is more likely to be found in larger organizations. Azure AD can be used to manage user identities, applications, and services in cloud-based environments.

PRO TIP: Active Directory is a directory service used on Windows Server computers to store information and manage computer networks. Azure AD is a cloud-based directory service that provides single sign-on and identity management for Office 365 and other Microsoft cloud services.

Azure AD also supports single sign-on and identity federation with other cloud-based identity management services, such as Google and Facebook.

Active Directory is more costly to maintain, but it offers greater security and compliance features. Azure AD can be used to manage user identities, applications, and services in a hybrid cloud environment.

Azure AD also supports single sign-on and identity federation with other cloud-based identity management services.

Active Directory is more difficult to scale, but it offers greater manageability and security.

Madison Geldart

Madison Geldart

Cloud infrastructure engineer and tech mess solver.