active directory (AD)

Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft's directory service for Windows servers and is a central component of network management. Active Directory contains important information about user accounts, devices and their properties. Thus, the Active Directory reveals the device type, the device location on the network, the enabled device attributes, etc.

The entries in the AD directory reflect the spatial distribution of the devices and can be listed in a dedicated way. The Active Directory replicates the structure of the network with its connected devices. Hierarchical directory domains are used for this purpose for the individual company areas. Since the Active Directory contains security-relevant data for the operating system, only the administrator has access to it. Among other things, he can use the Active Directory Service( ADS) to search the directory for specific devices, locations or attributes.

There are various tools that make it much easier for administrators to monitor and analyze Active Directory. These include tools thatscan the Active Directory for security holes and vulnerabilities.