Comparison of Microsoft's sync tools to the cloud.

Below are a comparison (copy/pasted from the source) of the different Sync tools from Microsoft. It was updated on September 5, 2014. To be absolutely updated go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/dn798669.aspx since things will change over time.

On-Premises to Cloud Synchronization

 

Feature	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Tool (DirSync)	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync)	Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 (FIM)
Connect to single on-premises AD forest	X	X	X
Connect to multiple on-premises AD forests		X	X
Connect to single on-premises LDAP directory (no AD at all)		CS	X
Connect to multiple on-premises LDAP directories		CS	X
Connect to on-premises AD and on-premises LDAP directories		CS	X
Connect to custom systems (i.e. SQL, Oracle, MySQL, etc.).		CS	X
Synchronize customer defined attributes (directory extensions)	CS	CS

Cloud to On-Premises Synchronization

Feature	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Tool (DirSync)	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync)	Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 (FIM)
Write-back of devices	X	CS
Attribute write back (for Exchange hybrid deployment )	X	X	X
Write-back of users, groups objects	CS	CS
Write-back of passwords (from SSPR and password change)	CS	CS
Write-back of customer defined attributes (directory extensions)	CS	CS

Authentication Feature Support

Feature	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Tool (DirSync)	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync)	Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 (FIM)
Password Hash Sync for single on-premises AD forest	X	CS
Password Hash Sync for multiple on-premises AD forests		CS
Federation (SSO)	X	X	X

Set-up and Installation

Feature	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Tool (DirSync)	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync)	Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 (FIM)
Supports installation on a Domain Controller	X	X
Supports installation using SQL Express	X	X
Step-up from DirSync to AADSync
Localization Windows Server languages)	X	CS
Support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2	X	X	X
Support for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2	X	X

Filtering and Configuration

Feature	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Tool (DirSync)	Azure Active Directory Synchronization Services (AAD Sync)	Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 (FIM)
Filter on Domains and Organizational Units	X	X	X
Filter on attribute values on objects	X	X	X
Allow minimal set of attributes to be synchronized "MinSync"		X
Allow different service templates to be applied for attribute flows		X
Allow removing attributes from flowing from AD to AAD		X
Allow advanced customization for attribute flows		X	X

Powershell -DomainMode and -ForestMode

When you use PowerShell to install a new forest. The values for -DomainMode and -ForestMode are the following:

     -- Windows Server 2003: 2 or Win2003
     -- Windows Server 2008: 3 or Win2008
     -- Windows Server 2008 R2: 4 or Win2008R2
     -- Windows Server 2012: 5 or Win2012
     -- Windows Server 2012 R2: 6 or Win2012R2

You can use the numeric value or you can write it in text as shown above.

Azure IaaS Cost Estimator Tool

Until now, when evaluating datacenter compute resources and estimating costs in the cloud has been a challenge. Typically we�re looking at a physical or virtual machine configuration such as CPU size, memory, disk space and so on. However, there are other resources that are more difficult to estimate such as bandwidth usage, storage transactions, and estimated future capacity.

Imagine having 50, 100, or more servers. Performing estimates for 100�s of servers would not only be time consuming, it would be difficult because we�re only looking at a snapshot in time. We know over the course of a day or week a server�s consumption model of resources will change. We may end up missing critical information that could end up in underestimating the cost of a VM or service in the cloud. Underestimating resources could lead to unexpected charges. Not an ideal situation when we�re looking to either reduce costs or migrate resources to the cloud.


You will find the tool and more information here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/cbernier/archive/2014/08/05/microsoft-azure-iaas-cost-estimator-tool.aspx

Azure AD Connect

Microsoft created the Azure AD Connect to help you easily connect your on-premises Windows Server Active Directory to your tenant in Azure Active Directory with only 4 clicks!

To learn more visit our documentation at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn776280.aspx and the Active Directory Team Blog at http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2014/08/04/connecting-ad-and-azure-ad-only-4-clicks-with-azure-ad-connect.aspx.

Difference between changing a password and reset a password

In all my years working with security there is a common misunderstanding about change a password and reset a password. The latter is also one of the big security issues in most companies - but they don't realize it...

Sanjay Tandon (Founder and CEO of Paramount Defenses Inc. And former MS blue badge) has written a great article about it. If you are working with AD and security, you should read this article, and the other ones he has published as well...

You find it here: http://www.active-directory-security.com/2014/06/Active-Directory-Account-Password-Security-101-For-Regulatory-Compliance-Auditors-The-Difference-Between-Change-Password-and-Reset-Password.html

Azure AD Premium - 90 day trial!!

http://blogs.technet.com/b/ad/archive/2014/06/24/news-free-90-day-trials-of-azure-active-directory-premium-now-with-2035-saas-app.aspx

From the above site:

Just a quick note today.  I'm happy to let you know that we've just turned on free trials of Azure Active Directory Premium. Now you can get a free 90 day trial of Azure AD Premium for up to 100 users.
....
And I've got one other bit of cool news to share.  As of last weekend, Azure AD is now pre-integrated with 2035 SAAS Applications.  The team has been kicking it over the past several month, adding on average 120 new apps a week!


Start to learn!

New ADMT version

The Directory Service Team has released the newest version of ADMT that now support Server 2012/2012 R2.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=19188