Microsoft Active Directory Reviews

I utilize it in almost every scenario. I use the Hazer database and meet daily needs across every industry, every time.

Having active deployment and well-configured systems helps me manage tasks and easily oversee thousands of users.

Technology is evolving. AI is offering solutions. However, short-term fixes are like band-aids.

I have used the solution for a very long time, spanning 25 years.

I have encountered a few stability issues.

I have encountered a few scalability issues.

I expect quick responses from Microsoft, however, in general, assistance can be found in English or occasionally in Turkish. Support documents are available on the internet in every language.

I advise consideration of this solution. 

The overall product rating is ten out of ten.

Microsoft Active Directory is an authentication infrastructure.

The most valuable feature of the solution is authentication.

The solution should maintain the infrastructure according to the period you are in and the security changes.

I have been using Microsoft Active Directory for 18 years.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine out of ten.

Around 50,000 users are using the solution in our organization. I use the solution on a daily basis.

I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.

The solution's initial setup depends on how you want to deploy it. On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup an eight out of ten if you want to deploy it in a better way.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a four out of ten.

The solution's group policy is a normal way to deploy configuration and helps deploy to a wider environment. The solution is deployed both on-premises and on the cloud. I would recommend the solution to other users based on their infrastructure.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Commonly, we engage in three key use cases. The first involves upgrading customer’s outdated directories like 2008 or 2012 to newer versions for improved structure. The second revolves around creating a hybrid setup with Office or Azure cloud, aiming for single sign-on across both. Lastly, we often tackle restructuring situations due to mergers or acquisitions, where directory structures must be unified into a shared infrastructure. These are the typical scenarios we handle in our projects.

One noteworthy aspect we discovered is the ability to exercise tight control over systems, specifically Windows PCs. This pertains to the management of policies, usage patterns, and user access on these devices, particularly within the framework of Active Directory which is extremely well thought. This actually works better with on-premises solutions. However, as the global trend shifts towards cloud and hybrid environments, Active Directory and its use is diminishing. Yet, it hasn't entirely lost its relevance and remains a presence that cannot be entirely disregarded.      

Typically, it depends on the customer's situation. If the customer operates in smaller locations where most PCs are in a common location, we usually aim to consolidate the directory infrastructure for easier maintenance. However, for distributed setups spanning multiple countries, configuring multiple sites becomes necessary and more intricate to handle. Our objective is to minimize the number of sites, simplifying operations for IT administrators and reducing errors. Mistakes in Active Directory can be costly for organizations, as disruptions can occur rapidly.

Moreover, when it comes to hybrid single sign-on across various applications, Microsoft hasn't put forth significant effort. Single sign-on has become a challenge for many customers who utilize diverse solutions beyond Microsoft products. While implementing single sign-on is relatively straightforward in the Azure cloud, it's considerably more complex when dealing with the local Active Directory. This presents a big challenge for many of our customers.

I have been working with Microsoft since 2000 and was a part of the Microsoft Active Directory Development team in Windows.

The stability and effectiveness of the setup depends on its design consideration of future growth. For instance, if a company starts with a thousand PCs but foresees expansion to ten or fifteen thousand PCs over five years, the solution should involve adding servers rather than restructuring the entire network. Unfortunately, we often find that this foresight is lacking in many cases. The initial design should be though-through with growth in mind to ensure scalability and stability.

Active Directory was an extension of the Windows NT infrastructure and wasn't designed for extreme scalability. It was intended for organizations with around five to six thousand PCs.

However, as organizations grew to more than twenty-five or thirty thousand PCs, the complexity of managing it increased significantly. Especially when managing across different countries or regions, the complexity could lead to errors, issues with patches, and other problems. For large organizations, we often suggest a hybrid solution involving Azure Directory. This way, local Active Directory is still present, but there's less dependency on it and more reliance on the cloud. Cloud solutions like Azure offer virtually limitless scalability compared to local setups constrained by server and network infrastructure.

We have a technical support team in place. In most Active Directory cases, the customers have external support from vendors. In that case, our observation is that if the initial setup is executed well and the system operates smoothly, there are fewer and simple user issues. The maintenance tasks remain minimal.

In the case of Microsoft vendor support, we have extremely poor support quality in our interactions with numerous customers. The received support has been lacking in effectiveness, largely due to the practice of assigning relatively inexperienced individuals who are learning as they go. Dealing with such a complex infrastructure as an active directory, experimenting can worsen the situation.

Neutral

Certainly, we have worked with Novell's Directory Infrastructure, which initially outperformed Microsoft's Active Directory. However, Microsoft rapidly closed the gap and swiftly gained prominence, and became one of the directories that could manage PCs

NetWare emerged as an easy-to-deploy and manage solution with good stability. The Windows NT infrastructure or Active Directory required many servers or just one server. The NT domain was less stable and based on a single server which had a lot of issues and could bring down the entire network. However, Microsoft addressed this concern in subsequent versions, effectively eliminating the problem.

When dealing with a new directory structure, the process is generally straightforward and clear. The approach depends on the organization's desired business rules. In cases of restructuring, the level of complexity varies based on the type of restructuring, whether it involves straightforward consolidation or the amalgamation of two distinct organizations. Rather than rating, the most complex scenario arises during the restructuring of directories, particularly when merging two companies or distinct structures. The complexity arises from the case to simplify and bring the rules on the same ground from each entity into a unified set suitable for the new organization. In my view, these projects have posed one of the most difficult cases.

For a fresh setup, the server infrastructure typically requires a few days or even less. The server setup is generally straightforward, but the time-consuming part lies in manually joining the PCs to the domain, as there isn't a fully automated method for it.

Active Directory is an expensive solution, primarily due to Microsoft's licensing model. This licensing approach includes paying for server licenses as well as for each computer that connects to it. However, when working with the Azure cloud, there is no cost for the server. This is profitable and one of the main reasons why Azure Cloud and other cloud-based solutions are being used more. 

There are certain scenarios where an Azure or cloud-based system might be unsuitable. For example, industries like power plants or government agencies might have restricted cloud connectivity due to regulatory or security concerns. In such cases, the utilization of Active Directory becomes the choice for managing on-premises infrastructure, as cloud isn't feasible option.

I would rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for Wi-Fi and logging in students and staff on the network.

It's quite easy to integrate into other directories. It allows us to avoid creating other databases. We just replicate the SAM database into other applications requiring users to log in.

The product must provide remote password reset features. Users would want to reset their passwords wherever they are. We've never really had a simple solution where resets could be done remotely other than using third-party applications. We've had to create a third-party application for password resets.

The cloud-based solution was not so easy to deploy. The product should improve Active Directory replication into the cloud. The setup is not seamless. If we set up an AD on-prem and want to deploy it in the cloud, the synchronization setup is not very easy. The product should improve the synchronization between on-prem and cloud servers. The setup is quite complex. It would be helpful to set up a cloud server and link it to the same domain.

The active directory synchronization must be instant. It would be a great improvement if the process were automated. If I go into the cloud and set up a new Active Directory server, and link it to a specific domain, the synchronization should be the way it is on-prem. When I set up a new server on-prem and connect it to the domain, all the users move immediately.

I have been using the solution for ten years.

The tool is very scalable. Around 3000 people are using the solution in our organization. It is extensively used in our organization.

The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment took less than two days.

We did the deployment in-house. The process to deploy comes built into the Windows Server setup. It's one of the easiest services to set up. We need a manager, a systems engineer, and two developers to deploy and maintain the product.

The license per user can probably be reduced. However, the server license is okay. The license fee is paid based on the new release of Windows Server.

We integrated the product into LDAP, which is Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. I would recommend the solution to others. It is easy to deploy the tool on-prem. Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

We use Microsoft Active Directory as an identity provider. Active Directory checks users and accounts.

It is extremely easy to use compared to the other identity providers. It also allows us to have group policies for all sorts of authentication. It also supports Cisco's 802.1X authentication. Moreover, it’s easy to integrate with any kind of product that will support Active Directory authentication.

It is mostly useful for its group policies. We can achieve everything with it, including some kind of restrictions on the users or servers. It is easy to handle, and it gives a hundred percent results with the group policies. Also, there has been significant improvement with the newer version, especially for Active Directory 2016.

Most of the features which are required for the active directory are already introduced into the Azure Active Directory. If you are using the Active Directory, the main concern is that the policy is restricted to the specific local area network. The users may not be in that specific local area network, like the office network, and won't get the updates and new policies.

However, upgrading is not easy because it has to come in a hierarchy from top to bottom. If you are a global administrator and have limited rights, it might be difficult as you are responsible for the whole entity. 

I have been using Microsoft Active Directory for seven years.

It is a stable solution. Azure Active Directory has a very high SLA, but the local active directories face update issues. Those issues need configuring and that is the reason I am giving it a seven out of ten. 

It's easy to scale and in my organization, almost 7,000 users are using this solution. Currently, we are downsizing in Africa and might shift to Azure Active Directory. However, the data is on the cloud, so it won’t affect the processing. I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten. 

My overall experience with the initial setup is satisfactory. My job role and use of Active Directory is very limited to using it as an identity source. At the moment, it is a hybrid model. We have on-premises and private cloud solutions internally. Currently, we are doing an assessment with Azure and AWS and might go with Azure. 

If the data is not that confidential, a company can choose a cloud solution like Active Directory. I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is very easy to use. The user interface of the product is very easy to use.

Most of the features of the product are not implemented in our company because every employee is involved in their own research and development activities. Microsoft Active Directory restricts most of the features our company's employees want to use since they are involved in research and development activities. The tool should not restrict functions or features for users, and it can be considered as an area for improvement.

I have been using Microsoft Active Directory since 2013.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Every person in my company, which includes around 800 employees, uses the solution.

The tool is extensively used, and there are plans to increase the use of the solution in the future.

The product's initial setup phase was straightforward.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

There are people working on three or four levels in our company involved in the deployment and maintenance process, which includes a manager, a project leader, a project engineer, and a junior engineer.

The deployment process can be carried out with the help of our company's in-house team.

As per the market standard, I would want the current prices of the product to remain the same.

The solution streamlined our company's user management and authentication since it helps us to monitor user activities.

The solution's ability to support our organization's device and user access control stems from the fact that there is a need for us to manage the hierarchy in our company. My company has different hierarchies, so we have used Microsoft Active Directory to manage the hierarchy level in our organization.

I recommended the product to those who plan to use it to use the tool to monitor and analyze the use of devices and data by employees.

The solution's scalability and maintenance help grow our business environment. Since we are an organization that works five days a week, the maintenance part is taken care of on Saturdays or Sundays, which may fall on the second or fourth week of the month. My company regularly maintains and updates the product.

The benefit from the use of the product stems from the fact that it helps our company to monitor and verify the details of employees.

I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

We use it to manage the users to start with and to add on security and networks. Whatnot, you can do is authentication, multifactor authentication, enabling user access externally is also possible. We also use it for federation service. So far, we are using all the features of AD. 

We are using most of the features because we are a large organization. So we need those kinds of services or features coming for enterprise versions, and we use most of it because we are 20,000+ people.

There is room for improvement in the support. For many use cases, we get good support; for some, we don't.

I have been using this solution for 20 years. 

I'm using the latest version, which is Active Directory, in the cloud.

Stability and performance are good. So far, we have not observed any major downtime or performance issues since we deployed it.

It is highly scalable. There are around 20,000+ users using AD in our organization. The number of users keeps increasing according to our requirements. 

We use the support frequently whenever we find a problem with the given feature or the used feature.

The response is good. Sometimes they slip the SLA or whatever, so we discuss it.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It is very customizable as well as very easy to install or leverage the features of AD.

To deploy AD, it took not more than two days because we needed to extend from AD to AD. So we just wanted to figure out which power start domain to choose from and then do it.

Moreover, there is a separate team involved in the deployment and maintenance of the solution.We have a combination of managers, engineers, developers, etc.

We used Bamboo Tableau charts, but we are not using it anymore. We moved to Azure DevOps, so we use the entire suite of DevOps tools. 

Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. I would definitely recommend using the solution.

Microsoft Active Directory is used to centrally manage all objects and provide access. It also serves as the authentication mechanism for most of our Windows and non-Windows applications using Kerberos. User and device management are also handled through Active Directory.

One of the most valuable features of the solution that I like is that it allows our company to apply GPOs properly to many users.

The GUI of Microsoft Active Directory is very basic. At our company, we can go for automation since we don't have many tasks. In the solution, assigning permissions is complex, making it difficult to grant them at a granular level or to multiple users without templates or alternative tools. Although achieving the RBAC or Zero Trust model is challenging due to the same limitations in Microsoft Active Directory, third-party tools are available to assist with this task. Even the Native Azure AD does not have these capabilities.

I do have experience with Microsoft Active Directory. Our company is a customer of the solution. Also, I have been using this solution for maybe eight to ten years. I am using the solution's latest version.

For stability, on a scale where one is not stable and ten is very stable, I rate this solution a seven since there are issues. The solution has its own set of issues concerning patches, compatibility issues, and a few more things. The few other issues are something that actually depends, in a sense, that every month, they roll out the patches, and then they try to close the vulnerabilities, creating issues. So, maybe encryption, and also there are many things.

The scalability of the solution is high. Scalability-wise, I rate this solution may be above eight out of ten. There are around 4,00,000 users of this solution.

The solution is used very often, daily, since it serves as a primary tool for various tasks, including authentication and other functions. At present, we do not plan to increase the number of users using the solution, as we are trying to reduce the footprint.

I rate the technical support for the solution between six to seven out of ten. While technical support is proactive, there are times when we cannot get through a call and don't always receive the support we expect from Microsoft's technical support team.

Neutral

The initial setup of the solution is easy, and I would rate it an eight or nine out of ten on a scale of one to ten, where one being difficult and ten being easy.

The deployment time of the solution varies depending on the team responsible for it. Since it's not primarily our team's responsibility, I'm unsure of the exact time required for deployment. I don't think more than one person is required for the entire deployment process. The number of people required to maintain the solution depends on the company's size.

The solution is worth the money paid for it.

I'm unsure about the cost of the solution, as I was never involved in that aspect. However, I don't think it would be expensive. It might be average, around four or five out of ten. I believe the licensing costs are volume licensing for on-premises, so it shouldn't be monthly. I think it's a one-time purchase for the server, and it comes with the necessary licenses. We don't have to buy any additional licenses.

My advice for those planning to use Microsoft Active Directory as a solution is that it is a scalable and stable platform that has been used for many years. It is a necessary tool for companies using Windows-based operating systems to manage their objects. Overall, I rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Active Directory has been a valuable tool throughout my career in IT. We have not found anything that can compete with it in terms of functionality or solutions. With Active Directory, we can manage users, groups, and machines, add domains and forests and create trust relationships between domains. This is just a small sampling of what Active Directory can do. Windows Server is a great platform on which Active Directory is built.

The solution helped us create and modify objects for each user in our environment. We gave them the delegation and permission they needed based on their function. It was very helpful, especially in managing these users on each site. We were able to implement domain controllers as a primary and additional domain controller as a redundancy for each other. We were also able to create users and additional UUs. It depends on the departments, the business need, and the group policies that we are going to apply.

We can delegate the administration of Active Directory objects and apply group policies to groups of OUs. This is the best way to manage Active Directory. We can also have separate domain controllers in different Active Directory sites based on their location. We manage replication between sites through Active Directory sites and services. We can provide insight into what is being done, which will replicate across these domain controllers in just a few seconds. This will ensure that our data or any modifications, any creations have been replicated successfully to the other domain controllers.

There is no room for improvement because Microsoft's solutions have moved from on-prem to the cloud. We won't see any improvement or enhancement in these on-prem solutions because, according to the Microsoft websites, all the information related to Active Directory and Windows Server has been retired and there is no more information about it. Microsoft has discontinued the solution and moved on. Microsoft has verified that all on-prem solutions will stop receiving support by 2030. 

The GUI has been the same from 2012 to 2016, and from 2019 to 2022. If Microsoft is going to add anything to the on-prem solution, it should be an updated GUI. 

I have been using the solution for six years.

I give the stability a nine out of ten.

I give the scalability a nine out of ten.

The Microsoft Support team often lacks the ability to provide timely support. Their response time is often slow, which can be frustrating for customers.

Neutral

The initial setup is straightforward. I am very familiar with the solution and the setup is a piece of cake. 

I give the ease of setup a ten out of ten.

I have seen a return on investment with the solution.

I give the solution a ten out of ten.

We need to know how many domain controllers we require in our environment in order to create a primary and redundant domain controller. Additionally, we need to follow a naming convention to avoid duplicate users and misspellings. The number and size of RAMs needed for our Active Directory will depend on our workload. We need to design our Active Directory well to ensure a good experience.

Our primary use case is to inform the user of access and single sign-on support to the internet.

The most valuable features are it is easy to use, manage, create a repository, and create the OM.

I would like to see the integration with Mac and IOS products improved. I would also like to have some similar functionalities in the on-premise solution that they have on the cloud solution.

I have been using Microsoft Active Directory for the past six to seven years.

Microsoft Active Directory is a stable solution and there are patches available when there are issues.

There is definitely scalability, we currently have around one thousand six hundred users.

Customer support is available however going directly to a technician is not our primary support option. We are able to use online forums and documentation before we involve a customer service technician.

Positive

In most cases the initial setup is straightforward. If you work in a greenfield environment, then it is easy to perform. But if you are using any previous products like the earlier versions of Microsoft Active Directory, then it is actually difficult to take the downtime and then reconfigure the Microsoft Active Directory on the new server and then re-implement the users in it. The initial migration is complex and challenging, but the greenfield implementation is okay.

The license is perpetual and the cost is minimal. If you purchase Microsoft Windows then Microsoft Active Directory comes with the package.

I think it is highly recommended to use Microsoft Active Directory knowing how it operates. I would rate Microsoft Active Directory an eight out of ten.