AD Connect Server 2016 is a robust solution designed to synchronize your on-premises Active Directory (AD) or AWS Managed Active Directory with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). This synchronization enables a unified identity for users across platforms such as Office 365, Azure, and various SaaS applications integrated with Azure AD. By bridging on-premises and cloud directories, AD Connect Server 2016 facilitates seamless user experiences and centralized identity management. Key Features and Functionality: - Synchronization Capabilities: AD Connect Server 2016 allows for one-way or two-way synchronization between on-premises AD and Azure AD, ensuring that user accounts, group memberships, and credential hashes are consistently updated across environments. - Single Sign-On (SSO: Integrating with Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS), it provides SSO capabilities, enabling users to access Office 365 and other Azure-integrated applications using their existing credentials. - Password Hash Synchronization: This feature synchronizes on-premises password hashes to Azure AD, allowing users to maintain the same password for both on-premises and cloud services, simplifying password management. - Password Writeback: Users can change or reset their passwords in the cloud, with changes written back to the on-premises AD, ensuring consistency and compliance with organizational password policies. - Device Writeback: Devices registered in Azure AD can be written back to the on-premises AD, facilitating conditional access and device management policies. - Filtering Options: Administrators can configure synchronization to include specific domains, organizational units (OUs, or attributes, providing flexibility in managing which objects are synchronized. - Prevent Accidental Deletes: To protect against unintended deletions, AD Connect Server 2016 includes a safeguard that limits the number of deletions per synchronization run, with default settings allowing up to 500 deletes. Primary Value and Problem Solved: AD Connect Server 2016 addresses the challenge of managing identities across hybrid environments by providing a seamless bridge between on-premises Active Directory and Azure Active Directory. It ensures that users have a consistent identity and authentication experience, whether accessing resources on-premises or in the cloud. This integration simplifies administrative tasks, enhances security through unified policies, and improves user productivity by enabling single sign-on and consistent credential management across platforms.