Active Directory monitoring with Netdata

Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is a tool from Microsoft that helps you manage Windows networks. It comes with most Windows Server systems and does many things. At first, Active Directory only helped you control domains. But now, it also helps you with many other things related to identity.

It stores information about objects on the network, such as users, computers, groups, printers, and policies. It also provides methods for authenticating and authorizing users and devices. Active Directory can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).

Active Directory also includes other components that extend its functionality and interoperability. Two of these components are Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) and Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS).

• AD CS is a service that allows you to create and manage certificates for your AD environment. Certificates are digital documents that verify the identity of a person or device. You can use certificates for various purposes, such as securing communications, encrypting data, signing documents, or enabling smart card logon.
• AD FS is a service that allows you to provide single sign-on (SSO) access to your applications across different domains or organizations. SSO means that users can log in once with their AD credentials and access multiple applications without entering their credentials again. You can use AD FS to federate your AD with other identity providers, such as Azure AD, Office 365, Google Apps, or Salesforce.

Active Directory Monitoring

To comprehensively monitor Active Directory you need to track various aspects of its performance, health, security, and compliance. Some of the key metrics to monitor include:

• Replication status: Replication is the process of copying data from one domain controller to another. It ensures that all domain controllers have consistent and up-to-date information. You need to monitor replication status to detect any failures or delays that could affect availability or consistency of your AD data.
• Domain controller availability: Domain controllers are the servers that host AD services and respond to requests from clients. You need to monitor domain controller availability to ensure that they are online and functioning properly. You also need to monitor their resource utilization, such as CPU, memory, disk space, and network bandwidth.
• Security events: Security events are records of activities that affect the security of your AD environment. They include logon attempts, password changes, group membership changes, account lockouts, privilege escalations, and more. You need to monitor security events to identify any unauthorized or malicious actions that could compromise your AD data or access.
• Compliance status: Compliance status is the measure of how well your AD environment meets the standards and regulations that apply to your organization. These may include industry-specific requirements (such as HIPAA or PCI DSS), internal policies (such as password complexity or retention), or best practices (such as backup frequency or disaster recovery). You need to monitor compliance status to ensure that your AD environment is aligned with your business goals and legal obligations.

To monitor these metrics effectively you need a tool that can collect data from various sources, analyze the data for anomalies or issues, and alert you when something needs your attention. You also need a tool that can generate dashboards that help you visualize and understand the state of your AD environment.

Monitoring Active Directory is an essential task for ensuring the security and availability of your network resources. By using a suitable tool and following best practices, you can keep your AD environment healthy and compliant.

How can Netdata Help?

There are many tools available for monitoring Active Directory, there are native monitoring tools such as Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), but if you are (and most likely you are) monitoring not just Active Directory but various components of your infrastructure then a holistic monitoring and troubleshooting solution such as Netdata could be what you need.

Netdata is a comprehensive monitoring solution that can be used to monitor and troubleshoot various aspects of your infrastructure including servers, VMs, Network, Disks, K8s and a wide variety of applications (databases, gateways, web servers etc.)

Netdata lets you monitor your Active Directory service in real time. It automatically collects and visualizes Active Directory metrics across 60+ charts. It also alerts you when something goes wrong or when there is an anomaly. Netdata is easy to install and use, and it works well with other monitoring tools. With Netdata, you can keep your Active Directory service secure and efficient.

If you haven’t already, check out the Windows monitoring guide for a deep dive into Windows monitoring and setting up Netdata for monitoring and troubleshooting your Windows servers.