Identification and access in Windows Server 2008

Today, managing user identities is a top priority for many businesses. People need to use different kinds of devices to access multiple systems and resources on the corporate network. Because many systems do not communicate with each other, it is common for a person to have multiple identities. Therefore, managing these redundant identities is very complex and time-consuming, as the error and bad user password management increase the threat to security.

Microsoft Identity and Access (Microsoft Identity and Access, IDA) solutions are part of a technology and product platform designed to help manage user identities and related access privileges. These solutions focus on security and ease of use, helping to increase business productivity, reduce IT costs, and eliminate the complexities of identity and access management. Microsoft Identity and Access solutions are as follows:

"Identity Management: Automatic identity and access management."

"Information protection: protecting confidential data-no matter where it is sent."

"Federated identities: cooperate safely with each enterprise."

"Directory service: simplifies user and appliance management.

"Powerful certification: Use the latest cryptographic system standards and authentication management innovations to make secure access more than just a username and password."

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 provides a comprehensive, integrated identity and access platform. Built on the Active Directory, the Microsoft IDA platform provides a similar interface for IT professionals, developers, and information workers to ensure that the entire enterprise can secure sensitive information while cooperating easily with other departments within the enterprise and outside companies. Consolidation support in a Windows environment can be extended to support different kinds of environments with existing partner solutions. The capabilities of these platforms are aggregated into the following three areas of service, each of which has some key components:

The directory Service

o Read-only domain controller (RODC)

Oactive Directory Federation Services (AD FS)

O Directory Services Audit

O Service-based Active Directory domain service (AD DS)

The Information protection

ofederated collaboration

Obitlocker

ofederated Rights Management

"A robust identification

O Encryption API

OV3 Certificate Template

o Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)