The name “Active Directory” reveals a lot about what Active Directory (AD) and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) have in common. Let’s start with “directory.” In general, a directory is an organized list of things, like the fat Yellow Pages that used to land on your (or your parents’) doorstep or the Contacts list on your phone. Both AD and Azure AD maintain a database or directory of objects; one of the most important types of object is the user account, which includes details like a person’s username and password, as well as their real name, job title, department and so on.

But unlike the Yellow Pages, the Active Directory and Azure AD directories are active. A printed directory is quite static: It doesn’t do anything; it sits there for you to consult. In contrast, AD and Azure AD do quite a lot. In fact, they perform the same two fundamental services: providing authentication and authorization for users attempting to access the devices, data, applications and other digital resources in your IT ecosystem:

Authentication is the process of validating that someone or something actually is who they say they are. Traditionally, individuals authenticate by supplying a username and password — ideally, only you know your password, so by entering it, you’re proving that it’s actually you who’s logging on and not someone else. As you undoubtedly know, it’s all too easy for someone else to guess or steal your password these days, so now you often have to provide a second piece of proof that you’re who you say you are, such as a code sent to your mobile device or a fingerprint, in a process that’s called (you guessed it!) multifactor authentication (MFA).
Authorization is the process of determining of what someone or something is allowed to do once they have been authenticated. For example, a company would probably want to permit CPA Alex to create and edit certain financial documents, but not allow sysadmin Chris to even read them. Similarly, Chris would be allowed to build and run PowerShell scripts and access data forbidden to Alex.

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