Microsoft Entra ID – Introduction

Hello, everyone. In the previous post, we talked about Azure policies and how they can help ensure adherence to standards and rules defined by the company. As promised in the last post about Azure Identity, today we’ll talk about Microsoft Entra ID, what it’s for, and the differences compared to conventional Active Directory based on Windows Server. What is Microsoft Entra ID? Microsoft Entra ID is a Microsoft cloud-based identity and access management service. With Microsoft Entra ID it’s possible to manage access to services hosted in the cloud, for example, Office 365, virtual machines hosted in Azure, configure single sign-on (SSO) for applications developed by the company, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA), etc. Microsoft Entra ID has some licensing options that enable services, tools, and provide differentiated support, as illustrated below: Microsoft Entra ID Free – This is the basic tier enabled when you activate a Microsoft 365 subscription. With this subscription, it’s possible to manage users, groups, and use Single Sign On (SSO) for up to 10 applications per user and manage up to 500 thousand objects in the directory. It’s also possible to perform cloud password resets for users created in Azure through the Self-service password change service, and also sync objects from Windows AD to Microsoft Entra ID using the Microsoft Entra Connect tool, which we’ll cover in upcoming posts. Office 365 – Offers the Microsoft Entra ID Free options, but with unlimited objects and also MFA Multi-factor Authentication. Microsoft Entra ID Basic – With Microsoft Entra ID Basic, you can use all the Microsoft Entra ID Free options, but with unlimited objects, B2B collaboration (allows assigning guests), group-management-based access and provisioning, logo inclusion on pages, and an SLA. Microsoft Entra ID Premium P1 – With Entra ID Premium P1, you can use the features of Microsoft Entra ID Basic, but with this license, the applications assigned to each user are unlimited. This plan offers advanced reports, dynamic groups, group naming policy, on-premises write back for password reset, unlock, and change using the self-service portal. With this plan, synchronization between Microsoft Entra ID and on-premises AD is possible. It’s also possible to use MFA Multi-factor Authentication, Cloud App Discovery, Connect Health, location-based conditional access, the ability to integrate with identity governance partners, and integration with cloud security applications. Microsoft Entra ID Premium P2 – This plan offers all the options of Entra ID Premium P1, plus the tools, identity protection, access reviews, and privileged identity management. What are the differences between on-premises AD and Microsoft Entra ID? In the table below, you can see some differences between Microsoft Entra ID and AD DS. Summary In today’s article, we talked about Microsoft Entra ID concepts, its licensing options, and the difference between Microsoft Entra ID and on-premises AD. In the next post, we’ll get into access management using RBAC, how to configure custom roles and assign them to users in the Azure portal and with PowerShell. I hope this content has helped enrich your knowledge of Azure. Did you like the content? Like it and share it. If you have any suggestions or comments, let us know. [ ]’s Ulysses Neves

Related guides: Browse the Microsoft Identity Troubleshooting Index or the Microsoft Entra ID topic archive.