Active Directory Services

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

Active Directory services include Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS), Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS), Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), and Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS).

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Active Directory Certificate Services. Discover how Active Directory Certificate Services allows you to create, distribute, and manage customized public key certificates.

Active Directory Domain Services. Learn about how Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) stores directory data and manages communication between users and domains, including user logon processes, authentication, and directory searches.

Active Directory Federation Services. Discover how Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) provides Web single-sign-on (SSO) technologies to authenticate a user to multiple Web applications over the life of a single online session.

Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services. Learn about the Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), which is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory service that provides flexible support for directory-enabled applications, without the restrictions of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).

Active Directory Rights Management Services. Find out how Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) protects your information and works with AD RMS-enabled applications to help safeguard digital information from unauthorized use.