AD Directory Abbreviation

Active Directory

Active Directory A Microsoft technology, part of the Active Platform, that is designed to enable applications to find, use, and manage directory resources (for example, user names, network printers, and permissions) in a dis-tributed computing environment. Distributed environ-ments are usually heterogeneous collections of networks that often run proprietary directory services from different providers. To simplify directory-related activities associ-ated with locating and administering network users and resources, Active Directory presents applications with a single set of interfaces that eliminates the need to deal with differences between and among these proprietary ser-vices. Active Directory is a component of the Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA). also directory service, WOSA.