---
title: "What is active directory?"  
description: "What is active directory?"  
author: "Deepak Aiyappa"  
published: 2018-10-08  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50251/what-is-active-directory  
category: "troubleshooting"  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# What is active directory?

What is [active directory](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50281/name-the-active-directory-partitions)?\
\
\

## Answers

### Answer by Hitesh Vohra

**Microsoft Windows Server's [Active](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/95727/how-do-i-solve-the-google-adsense-account-not-active-issue) [Directory](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/1650/write-to-the-file-system-in-a-directory) (AD)** is a directory service. **Active Directory's** main purpose is to allow administrators to manage permissions and access to network resources. Data is saved in Active Directory as objects, which include users, groups, applications, and devices, and these objects are classified by their name and properties. \
The primary mechanism for authenticating users and identifying which network resources they can access is through **Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS),** which is a basic component of Active Directory. Single Sign-On (SSO), security certificates, LDAP, and access rights management are all available with AD DS.


---

Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50251/what-is-active-directory

Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.