I am going to cover everything you must know about Azure AD Connect which is an important topic for the Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification exam. Azure AD Connect Health monitors your on-premises identity infrastructure in real-time. It allows you to keep a consistent connection to Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Online Services. This dependability is achieved by enabling monitoring of your key identity components.
In this Blog, we are going to cover:
- What is Azure AD Connect?
- How does Azure Connect work?
- What types of data can the tool sync?
- How frequently is data synchronized?
- Features provided by AD Azure Connect
- What is the need to use Azure Connect AD?
- What is Azure AD Connect Health?
- Why use AD Connect Health?
- FAQ’s
What is Azure AD Connect?
AD Connect Azure is a Microsoft tool that assists organisations with hybrid IT environments. It comes free with your Azure subscription. It has many features, such as federation integration and health monitoring. Today, however, we’ll concentrate on its most well-known feature: synchronisation.
Simply put, AD Connect allows organisations to synchronise identity data between their on-premises Active Directory environment and Azure AD. Users can then use the same credentials to access on-premises applications as well as cloud services like Microsoft 365.It is a tool for connecting on-premises identity infrastructure to Microsoft Azure AD. The wizard deploys and configures the connection’s prerequisites and components, such as sync and signon. AD Connect Azure incorporates functionality previously released as Dirsync and AAD Sync.
How does Azure Connect Ad work?
You install the application on a domain-joined server in your on-premises data centre. The default installation option is Express Settings, which is used for the most common scenario: synchronising data between a single on-premises forest with one or more domains and a single Azure AD tenant. If you have multiple forests or Azure AD tenants, look into the other topologies that Microsoft supports.
The sync is only one way by default: from on-premises AD to Azure AD. You can, however, use the writeback function to sync changes from Azure AD to your on-premises AD. For example, if a user changes their password using the Azure AD self-service password management function, the password is automatically updated in the on-premises AD.
What types of data can the tool sync?
AD Azure Connect can synchronise your on-premises AD’s user accounts, groups, and credential hashes. Most user account attributes, including the User Principal Name (UPN) and security identifier (SID), are synchronised.
The following objects and attributes, however, are NOT synchronised:
- Any objects and attributes that you specifically exclude from the sync
- SidHistory attributes for users and groups
- Group Policy Objects (GPOs)
- The contents of the Sysvol folder
- Computer objects for computers connected to the on-premises AD environment
- Organization unit (OU) structures
How frequently is data synchronised?
A scheduler manages the synchronisation. A sync task is scheduled to run every 30 minutes by default.
You can use PowerShell to:
- Examine the scheduler’s configuration and make changes as needed.
- Force a sync.
- Stop a running sync task or even temporarily disable the scheduler (for example, so that you can modify the configuration of Azure AD Connect).
Features provided by Microsoft Azure AD Connect:
- Password hash synchronization– A sign-in method that syncs a hash of an on-premises AD user’s password with Azure AD.
- Pass-through authentication– A sign-in method that allows users to use the same password on-premises and in the cloud while avoiding the additional infrastructure required in a federated environment.
- Federation integration– Federation is an optional component of AD Azure Connect that can be used to set up a hybrid environment with an on-premises AD FS infrastructure. It also offers AD FS management features such as certificate renewal and the deployment of additional AD FS servers.
- Synchronization– In charge of creating users, groups, and other objects. Additionally, ensure that the identity information for your on-premises users and groups matches that of the cloud. Password hashes are also included in this synchronization.
- Health Monitoring– AD Connect Azure Health can provide robust monitoring and provide a central location in the Azure portal to view this activity.
Important Note : AD Connect Azure Health for Sync necessitates the use of Azure AD Connect Sync V2. You must upgrade to the latest version if you are still using AADConnect V1. AADConnect V1 will be phased out on August 31, 2022. In December 2022, Azure AD Connect Health for Sync will no longer be compatible with AADConnect V1.
What is the need to use Connect Azure AD?
- Integrating your on-premises directories with Azure AD increases user productivity by providing a single identity for accessing both cloud and on-premises resources. Users and organizations can benefit from the following:
- Users can access on-premises applications as well as cloud services such as Microsoft 365 using a single identity.
- A single tool to simplify the deployment of synchronization and sign-in.
- Provides the most up-to-date capabilities for your scenarios. Azure AD Connect supersedes previous versions of identity integration tools like DirSync and Azure AD Sync. See the comparison of Hybrid Identity directory integration tools for more information.
What is Azure AD Connect Health?
Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Connect Health monitors your on-premises identity infrastructure in real time. It allows you to keep a consistent connection to Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Online Services. This dependability is achieved by enabling monitoring of your key identity components. It also makes the key information about these components easily accessible.
Azure AD Connect Health monitors your on-premises identity infrastructure in real time. It enables you to maintain a consistent connection to Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Online Services. This dependability is achieved by enabling monitoring of your key identity components. It also makes key information about these components easily accessible.
Why use AD Connect Azure Health?
When you authenticate with Azure AD, your users are more productive because they have a single identity to access both cloud and on-premises resources. Keeping the environment stable so that users can access these resources becomes a challenge. Azure AD Connect Health monitors and gains insights into your on-premises identity infrastructure, ensuring its dependability. It is as simple as installing an agent on each of your on-premises identity servers.
AD Connect Health for AD FS supports AD FS 2.0 on Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016. It also supports monitoring the AD FS proxy or web application proxy servers that provide authentication for extranet access. Azure AD Connect Health for AD FS provides a set of key capabilities with an easy and quick installation of the Health Agent.
FAQ’s
Q1. What is the difference between Azure Active Directory Connect and Azure Active Directory Sync?
Ans. Understand your organization’s needs. If you can live with its limitations, Azure AD Connect Cloud Sync is the preferred method for synchronising on-premises AD to Azure AD. Azure AD Connect has the most robust synchronisation features, including Exchange hybrid support.
Q2. What is the purpose of Azure AD Connect?
Ans. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Connect Health monitors your on-premises identity infrastructure in real time. It allows you to keep a consistent connection to Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Online Services. This dependability is achieved by enabling monitoring of your key identity components.
Q3. Is Azure AD Connect free to use?
Ans. Azure Active Directory is available in four different editions: free, Office 365 apps, premium P1, and premium P2. The Free edition is included with a commercial online service subscription, such as Azure, Dynamics 365, Intune, or Power Platform.
Q4. What are the three main parts of Azure Active Directory ad connect?
Ans. Azure Active Directory Connect is comprised of three primary components: synchronisation services, the optional Active Directory Federation Services component, and the Azure AD Connect Health monitoring component. Synchronization is in charge of the creation of users, groups, and other objects.
Q5. How do I access Azure AD Connect?
Ans. Go to Settings, Accounts, Access work or school, and Connect. Press Integrate this device with Azure Active Directory. Enter your email address and click Next; on the next screen, enter your password. When you’re finished with the wizard, restart your computer.
Q6. Is a VPN required for Azure AD Connect?
Ans. Azure AD authentication is only supported for OpenVPN® protocol connections and necessitates the use of the Azure VPN Client.
References/Related
- [AZ-104] Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Exam: Everything You Need To Know
- Virtual Networks In Microsoft Azure: VNet Peering, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway
- Azure ExpressRoute Vs Azure VPN Gateway
- Microsoft Azure VNet Peering (Microsoft Official)
- [AZ-104] Roles And Responsibilities Of A Microsoft Azure Administrator
- [AZ-104] Region, Availability Zone, Availability Sets and Fault Domain,Update Domain In Microsoft Azure
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