Active Directory Federation Services 2.0

What is Federated Identity?

Federated identity is the technology that enables the sharing of identity information across borders of organisation. The ultimate purpose of identity federation is to allow users to access to multiple secured systems with only one account and password. 

Why does business need Federated Identity?

Federated identity helps business quickly and securely form relationships with other partners and, on the other hand, rapidly acquire customers for new services and offerings . Such ways of exchanging information enables organisation to provide customised solutions for their customers, and reduce the cost of separate identity management system. Companies no longer need to manage user accounts by themselves, but rather get access to appropriate user information and concentrate on developing their core business.  

Active Directory Federation Services

Active Directory Federation Service (AD FS) is a complete solution for federated identity management, a part of Windows Server 2008. It provides secure collaboration across organisational boundaries, development flexibility and high extensibility.

-          Built on existing infrastructure and is tightly integrated with increasingly popular technology, AD FS allow organisations to make full use of their resources, and quickly adapt to future development. AD FS extends the use of Active Directory Domain Services, providing access to resources offered by trusted partners. Additionally, high integration with Active Directory Rights Management Services and Microsoft SharePoint Server helps organisations take advantage of existing federated trust relationships to collaborate with external partners and share rights-protected content.

-          With AD FS, native single sign-on across organisations is possible to applications both on premises and in the cloud. Simple and effective trust management features in AD FS gives IT control of interaction between applications, identity stores, and authentication methods across enterprise and with partners.

-          AD FS supports different widely recognized industry standard protocols such as WS-* and SAML 2.0, enabling applications based on different programming models, languages, and devices to interoperate. This approach ease developments in the future since businesses do not need to worry about compatibility of technologies with their partners.

For more information, refer to Microsoft Identity and Access Solutions and Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Federation Services 2.0.