AD Federation Services in Windows Server 2016

Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS or Federation Services) delivers enhancements in Windows Server 2016 to integrate with Azure AD and third-party directories and take advantage of new features in Windows 10, Azure Active Directory, and Microsoft Intune. AD FS is a service that links identities and their associated attributes across multiple identity management systems, providing users with single sign-on (SSO) to external services and selective access to internal resources, without secondary credentials. AD FS is valuable for organizations that require a high degree of control of their SSO implementations, but AD FS has licensing dependencies, which could include user subscriptions to Microsoft online services.

Understanding AD Federation Services

AD FS is a Windows Server role that provides identity federation, including SSO, to on-premises and hosted applications, between organizations, and from users on the Internet. It implements identity federation protocols, including SAML 2.0, which are supported by products from other SSO vendors, enabling AD FS to bridge Windows Server and many other services.