Azure AD Domain Services Tier Selection Available

• Azure Active Directory Domain Services now offers service tiers that give customers more control over performance and recovery.
• A limited form of forest trust helps integrate systems across Azure or between Azure and on-premises.

Azure Active Directory Domain Services (AAD DS) now allows customers to select the tier of service used for their tenancy and supports some forms of forest trusts. AAD DS provides Windows Server Active Directory functionality as a Microsoft-hosted service and can replace hosted or on-premises domain controllers deployed to support Azure applications and services. New capabilities include the following:

Tier selection allows customers to ensure their performance expectations will be met and to configure backup frequency and other characteristics. Previously, AAD DS would select the performance tier automatically based on the number of objects in the directory. Three tiers are offered: Standard, Enterprise, and Premium. Each successive tier offers more frequent backup snapshots and additional outbound resource forests when a higher tier is selected. The tier chosen does not limit the number of objects that are permitted in the directory or the number of permitted authentication operations per hour, but Microsoft makes recommendations to ensure that customer performance expectations can be met.