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MICROSOFT_PRESS_EBOOK_INTRODUCING_WINDOWS_10

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CHAPTER <strong>10</strong><br />

Integrating Azure Active Directory<br />

Every network administrator knows the ins and outs of Active Directory, the service that runs on<br />

Microsoft Windows server editions and powers countless Windows domain-based networks<br />

worldwide. The Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows <strong>10</strong> offer full support for traditional<br />

Active Directory deployments, of course, but Windows <strong>10</strong> also supports a new, cloud-based alternative<br />

called Azure Active Directory, or Azure AD for short.<br />

Like its on-premises counterpart, Azure AD provides identity and access services for businesses.<br />

With an Azure AD work or school account, users can sign on to any cloud or on-premises web<br />

application, using a wide array of client devices.<br />

Azure AD provides the core directory and identity-management capabilities behind several<br />

business-focused Microsoft cloud services, including Microsoft Office 365 and (naturally) Microsoft<br />

Azure. You can integrate Azure AD services with a local Active Directory deployment or use it on a<br />

standalone basis. In either case, you can configure multifactor authentication to provide secure local<br />

and remote access, and you can take advantage of built-in reporting and analytics capabilities that<br />

scale to even very large enterprises.<br />

In this chapter, I offer an overview of Azure AD as well as instructions on how to make Azure AD<br />

work with Windows <strong>10</strong> devices of all shapes and sizes.<br />

Getting started with Azure AD<br />

You might already be using Azure AD without being aware of it. If you or your organization signed<br />

up for a business-focused Microsoft cloud service—such as Azure, Office 365, Microsoft Intune, or<br />

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online—that subscription includes an Azure AD directory. By default, this<br />

directory includes a subdomain in the onmicrosoft.com domain, but most organizations assign a<br />

custom domain name to the directory. For example, Contoso Corporation might start with the default<br />

contoso.onmicrosoft.com subdomain but add contoso.com as a custom domain. This configuration<br />

makes it possible for users to sign in and access local or cloud-based resources using a familiar email<br />

address.<br />

Each dedicated instance of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is called a tenant. Although Microsoft<br />

hosts the service in its massive and worldwide Azure infrastructure, each Azure AD directory is completely<br />

isolated from other directories, as shown in Figure <strong>10</strong>-1.<br />

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