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Putting an Active Directory domain controller in the Azure cloud

Cloud Director

Article from ADMIN 37/2017

By Klaus Bierschenk

Once you start putting services in Azure cloud, you might want to add an Active Directory domain controller.

Since Azure 2010 achieved production maturity, much has happened on Microsoft's cloud platform. Continuous innovations see the service rapidly growing, and administrators can choose from a variety of goodies from the Microsoft portfolio of new technologies. What looks so simple at first glance can turn out to be tricky when it comes to the details.

One popular option is to integrate cloud resources with existing infrastructure in a hybrid configuration. A hybrid network lets you keep your most essential core resources close and local, while still enjoying the benefits of a cloud for scaling to meet demand.

Once you get a significant part of your network up in the cloud, you might be wondering if you can put an Active Directory domain controller in the cloud also to facilitate authentication for cloud resources and act as a backup for local domain controllers (DCs).

This article shows how to get started with adding a domain controller to your Azure configuration.

Confusion with Portals

Azure offers two management portals: the classic model and the resource-based model [1]. The older model is the classic deployment model. Certain activities, such as Azure Active Directory, can only be managed from the classic model. The model for the resource manager has been around since 2014, and it was long dubbed the "Preview Portal." Since last year, according to Microsoft, the resource manager portal is now the preferred portal.

Of course, the services acquired for a subscription can extend across both models (portals); however, mixing the models makes management more difficult, because you won't be able to manage everything through a single interface.