LDAP and AD: Essential Components of Effective Network Protection
LDAP (Lightweight directory access protocol) and Active Directory are two words frequently used in Identity and Access Management (IAM). Some individuals utilize them interchangeably. Nonetheless, they are not identical. Active Directory is a directory server that holds user information like usernames, phone numbers, and email addresses. LDAP, on the other hand, is a protocol that enables access to and modification of this information. You may use LDAP's Bind procedure to authenticate users. LDAP is the underlying protocol for Active Directory, but it may also be used to query any other directory database that supports it, such as OpenLDAP and FreeIPA. But what is LDAP and how does it vary from Active Directory?
In this article, the definition of LDAP and its workings will come first. Additionally, LDAP use cases will be discussed. We will explain the types, importance, advantages, and drawbacks of Active Directory as well.
What is LDAP, and How Does It Work?
LDAP is an open-source application protocol that allows programs to access and authenticate particular user information across directory services. Lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) is a protocol that allows users to discover information about companies, people, and other entities. The primary aims of LDAP are to store data in the LDAP directory and to authenticate users to access the directory. Also included is the communication language required by apps to communicate and receive information from directory services. A directory service allows users to locate information about businesses, persons, and other data on a network. LDAP serves as an identity and access management (IAM) solution for user authentication, including Kerberos and single sign-on (SSO), Simple Authentication Security Layer (SASL), and Secure Sockets Layer compatibility (SSL).
The most typical LDAP use case is to provide a single point of access to and management of directory services. LDAP allows companies to store, manage, and protect information about themselves, their users, and their assets, such as usernames and passwords. This simplifies storage access by offering a hierarchical information structure, and it is crucial for organizations as they develop and acquires more user data and assets.
What is the Difference Between LDAP and Active Directory? Is Active Directory an LDAP?
LDAP and Active Directory are two terms used often in Identity and Access Management (IAM). Some individuals confuse the two terms. Nonetheless, they are not the same. Whereas Active Directory is a directory server that holds user information like as usernames, phone numbers, and email addresses, LDAP is a protocol that allows that information to be read and modified. LDAP is used to authenticate users using the Bind procedure. Although LDAP is the primary protocol of Active Directory, it is used to query any other directory database that supports it, such as OpenLDAP and FreeIPA.
More differences between LDAP and Active Directory are given in the table below.
| LDAP | AD | |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol | Active Directory |
| Function | Protocol | Directory Services Provider (Directory Server) |
| Standard | Open-Source | Proprietary |
| Supported Systems | Cross-Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS | For Windows users and applications |
| Primary Use | Querying and updating Directory Services Providers items | A directory database provides authentication, rules, group and user administration, and a variety of additional functions. |
Table 1. LDAP vs Active Directory (AD)
Why Should You Use LDAP?
The LDAP usage paradigm is comparable to how individuals use library cards or telephone directories. If you have a task that needs you to "write/update once, read/query numerous times", you might think about utilizing LDAP. LDAP was created to give incredibly fast read/query performance for huge datasets. Typically, you only want to keep a minimal amount of information for each entry. Because the presumption is that you don't do "update" very often, add/delete/update speed is slower than read/query performance.
Consider a website with a million registered users and hundreds of page requests every second. Without LDAP, every time a user clicks a page, even if it is a static page, you will most likely need to communicate with your database to confirm the user ID and digital signature for this login session. Obviously, your bottleneck will be the query to your database for user validation. You can simply outsource user validation and obtain considerable performance benefits by utilizing LDAP. In this case, LDAP serves as an additional optimization layer outside of your database to improve efficiency, rather than replacing any database processes.
LDAP isn't simply for user validation; any operation with the following characteristics might be a suitable fit for LDAP:
- You need to find ONE piece of info several times and you need it quickly.
- You are unconcerned about the logic and relationships between various data sets.
- You do not often update, add, or delete data.
- Each data input is tiny in size.
- You don't mind having all of these little pieces of info in one location.
How does LDAP Work?
To connect to an LDAP directory, a user's device must include an LDAP client. Here is an example of a common LDAP workflow:
- The client establishes a secure connection between the user and the LDAP directory.
- They submit a "search" query for a certain printer to the directory.
- The LDAP directory verifies the user's identity.
- The search is conducted inside the directory, and the required printer's address is returned.
- Closes the secure connection to the LDAP directory.
- An individual connects to the printer.
Figure 1. How LDAP Works
Which Applications Make Use of LDAP?
The most typical application of LDAP is to offer a centralized location for authentication, which means it maintains usernames and passwords. LDAP is then used to validate users in other applications or services via a plugin. LDAP is used to validate users and passwords with Docker, Jenkins, Kubernetes, OpenVPN, and Linux Samba servers, for example. System administrators can additionally limit access to an LDAP database using LDAP single sign-on.
LDAP is also used to add operations to a directory server database, authenticate (or "bind") sessions, remove LDAP entries, search and compare entries using various commands, change existing entries, extend entries, abandon requests, and unbind operations.
LDAP is utilized in Microsoft's Active Directory, but it may also be found in programs such as OpenLDAP, Red Hat Directory Server, and IBM Security Directory Server. OpenLDAP is a free and open-source LDAP client. It is a Windows LDAP client and administration program designed for LDAP database management. This program should allow users to explore, search up, delete, create, and modify data on an LDAP server. Users can manage passwords and browse by schema using OpenLDAP.
Red Hat Directory Server is a UNIX program for managing numerous systems with an LDAP server. Users can save user information in Red Hat Directory Server. The application gives users safe and limited access to directory data, group membership, and remote access, as well as access through validation procedures.
IBM Security Directory Server is an LDAP implementation based on IBM. This tool is designed to help you create and distribute identity control, security, and web applications more quickly. Validation techniques supported by Security Directory Server include digital certificate validation, Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL), and CRAM-MD5.
What is the Active Directory?
Active Directory was created by Microsoft to simplify and consolidate the administration of people, computers, and other network resources by keeping their information in a single directory. It is the most prevalent directory service utilized by businesses today. Active Directory supports two primary functions:
- Users to authenticate and access domain resources.
- Administrators oversee access and permissions for certain network resources.
Imagine a world without Active Directory in which you must continually enter your credentials to sign in to every application and the IT staff must allocate permissions and access to resources manually.
What are the Advantages of Active Directory?
Active Directory is a potent resource that provides several benefits to a business. Active Directory delivers greater security, comprehensive administration capabilities, and rapid access to data. Active Directory provides several advantages over alternative directory systems. Some of Active Directory's benefits are listed below:
- Active Directory allows you to specify how your organization's data should be stored, managed, and scheduled according to business requirements.
- Active Directory enables quick access to resources, centralized management over people and computer objects via the Active Directory group policy functionality, and organization-wide security.
- Active directory enables network administrators to store and manage information on user accounts, machine settings, and resources.
- Single Sign-On: Active Directory offers a single sign-on for access to network resources accessible on any server in the domain.
- Active Directory's advanced security features and expanded data protection capabilities assist in defending your organization from external attacks.
- Active directory includes strong security and compliance capabilities, such as password rules, data encryption, and auditing, which is applied to individual Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) objects or containers.
- Active directory enables effective administration since it automatically updates and stores information about linked devices without requiring user participation.
- Active directory enables the effective administration of various devices across wide geographical regions since it automatically updates and keeps information about linked devices.
- Active directory's multi-master replication strategy enables organizations to manage a huge number of items in a single container, unlike other directories.
- Active Directory's Data Protection features prevent unauthorized users from viewing sensitive information.
What are the Disadvantages of Active Directory?
Some of the key disadvantages of Active Directory are as follows:
- Planning: Active Directory needs proper planning to implement Active Directory infrastructure in an organization.
- Windows-Only: Active Directory is a Windows-only solution. If Linux or Mac machines need to be managed, they will require LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) clients instead of an Active directory.
- Expensive: Active Directory can be very expensive depending on how many systems are being managed by Active Directory and what kind of volume is required out of Active Directory.
- Replication: Active Directory uses a multi-master replication model where changes to the directory must be propagated between all Domain Controllers in order for information to remain accurate and up to date. This can cause conflicts when there are differences in data on different DCs, such as an outdated password policy.
- Performance: Active Directory can cause performance issues when used with larger networks or more DCs than recommended by Microsoft.
- Monitor Usage: Active Directory does not provide the ability to easily monitor Active Directory usage across an entire Active Directory forest, making it difficult for IT administrators to determine which users are doing what in Active Directory and how much network bandwidth is being used up by Active directory traffic.
- RODC: Active Directory cannot be installed on a read-only domain controller (RODC) which means ActiveDirectory has a single point of failure. If Active Directory is ever corrupted or if Active directory services are unavailable, Active directory replication will halt and no changes can be written to Active directory until the issue that caused Active directory failures is resolved.
- Need Internet: Active Directory requires an always-on internet connection in order for Active Directory users to authenticate Active directory passwords, preventing Active Directory users from accessing Active Directory when the organization has no internet connectivity.
- Import Accounts: Active Directory does not provide an easy way to import existing user accounts into Active Directory.
- Maintenance Cost: Active Directory has high maintenance costs to manage.
How Many Types of Active Directory are There?
There are seven unique Active Directory variants. Each is utilized differently, in diverse places, and for unique purposes.
| Active Directory Type | Deployment | Modern | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local AD (AD) | Server | No | Local Identity |
| Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) | Server | No | Single Sign On (SSO) For Ad |
| Azure Active Directory | Cloud | Yes | Cloud Identity |
| Azure Active Directory Domain Services | Cloud | Yes | Cloud Hybrid Servers |
| Azure Active Directory Connect | Server | - | Sync AD and AAD |
| Azure Active Directory Connect Cloud Provisioning | Server | Yes | Sync AD and AAD (Limited) |
| Azure Active Directory Application Proxy | Cloud | Yes | Azure AD enables legacy apps |
Table 2. Active Directory (AD) Types
Why do You Need Active Directory?
AD is a solution for centralized security management that contains all network resources. Active Directory's objective is to help enterprises to maintain network security and organization without using excessive IT resources. Using AD, network managers do not need to manually update every modification to the network's hierarchy or objects on every machine. They just need to do the action once in Active Directory. It is required for handling security authentication, as only approved users (stored as objects in AD) may log on to network machines.
Active Directory facilitates the creation and deletion of user accounts and the addition of network resources. For instance, IT administrators only need to establish a user account for a new employee once, rather than on every computer, printer, and shared file the person may need to access.
Because of AD, resetting passwords is a quick and easy procedure. When an employee forgets their password, administrators are able to reset it using Active Directory. The new password is then automatically updated on every resource the user has access to throughout the whole network.
Additionally, administrators can provide rights to certain groups. Active Directory enables the creation of security groups that specify which users have access to which network resources, including shared files and applications. You can organize the network structure of your firm. AD is used, for instance, to determine which computers and printers belong on the network.
Is Zenarmor Using AD?
For username resolution, Zenarmor supports Active Directory (AD) and OPNsense Captive Portal. If you have Active Directory, you can rapidly integrate your AD with Zenarmor running on your firewall to show usernames and groups in analytics. You may set unique policies for your specific AD groups and users using the Zenarmor AD agent, and you can enhance your network security with User/Group based filtering.
To begin reaping the benefits of user-based filtering, simply link your Active Directory with Zenarmor by following the three steps shown below:
- Download Zenarmor AD Agent.
- Install Zenarmor AD Agent on your Domain Controller (DC)
- Setup and configure Zenarmor AD Agent
Hands-on video for Integrating Zenarmor with Active Directory
Zenarmor-Active Directory integration video is given below: