LDAP vs. Active Directory: What’s the Difference?

Last updated on February 18, 2025

LDAP and Active Directory are two common terms in Identity and Access Management (IAM). Some people use them interchangeably. Nevertheless, they are not the same thing. Whereas Active Directory is a directory server that stores user information such as usernames, phone numbers, and email addresses, LDAP is a protocol that allows reading and modifying that information. You can also use LDAP to authenticate users using the Bind operation. Although LDAP is the core protocol behind Active Directory, you can use LDAP to query any other directory database that supports it, e.g., OpenLDAP and FreeIPA. But what is LDAP vs. Active Directory, and how do they differ? Let’s dive in.

Active Directory vs. LDAP: Key Differences and Best Use Cases Explained

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) and Active Directory (AD) are both integral to managing directory services, but they serve different roles within an IT infrastructure.

LDAP is an open, vendor-neutral protocol used to access and manage directory information. It provides a method for querying and modifying data in a directory, such as usernames, passwords, and email addresses. LDAP is platform-agnostic, making it suitable for various systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. It’s commonly employed in applications requiring authentication or user profile management, such as email servers, VPNs, and databases.

Active Directory, developed by Microsoft, is a directory service that uses LDAP as one of its protocols for querying and managing network resources. AD is tightly integrated with Windows environments, providing a comprehensive identity and access management system. It offers features like Group Policy for centralized security and configuration management, and supports Single Sign-On (SSO), password policies, and automated certificate management. AD is ideal for organizations that rely heavily on Microsoft products and need to manage users, devices, and access control efficiently. 

Key Differences:

• Nature: LDAP is a protocol, whereas Active Directory is a directory service that utilizes the LDAP protocol among others.
• Platform Dependency: LDAP is platform-independent and can be implemented across various systems. Active Directory is designed specifically for Windows environments.
• Functionality: LDAP provides a method to query and modify directory services. Active Directory offers a comprehensive suite of services, including centralized domain management, authentication, authorization, and policy enforcement.
• Use Cases: LDAP is suitable for cross-platform authentication and applications like email servers and VPNs. Active Directory is ideal for managing users, computers, and permissions within a Windows-based infrastructure.

In summary, while LDAP serves as a protocol for accessing and managing directory services, Active Directory is a Microsoft-specific directory service that uses LDAP among other protocols to provide a centralized system for managing network resources in a Windows environment.

What is Active Directory?

Active Directory, AD for short, is a directory server developed by Microsoft that allows storing directory service information such as users and devices in a centralized and hierarchical database. AD comes with many services such as authentication, access policies, and group management.

Why Do Companies Need Active Directory?

IT environments can be very complicated. IT administrators want to simplify their job as much as possible so they do not waste time managing dozens of scattered user accounts. Users find it uncomfortable to have to provide a different set of credentials for every application they use.

Enter Active Directory, a single directory that stores all information about all users and devices in the organization in one place. AD makes user management a piece of cake for administrators and eliminates the need to provide a different set of credentials for each application for users. In a company with AD, when an administrator needs to change a user’s account, they only make that change in one place in Active Directory. Had the company not been using Active Directory, the administrator would have to make that change in every application separately. Active Directory saves time and workload.

Incidentally, the preceding benefits of using Active Directory apply to other directory servers, too. Such external identity providers allow administrators to manage identities in a centralized place and make changes across multiple applications and services from a single location.

What is the Structure of Active Directory?

The Active Directory structure consists of the following components:

• Users and Computers – Items represent a particular user account or computer in the company; each user account is described by its attributes, e.g., name, email address, location, etc.
• Organizational Units (OU) – Used to organize users, groups, computers, and other organizational units.
• Domains – Collection of users, groups, computers, OUs.
• Trees – One or more domains in a logical hierarchy that defines trust between domains, i.e., who can access what 
• Forest – A top-tier in the hierarchy that contains a group of trees

Improving Security With Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) serves as a central repository for user credentials and organizational information, making it a prime target for cyberattacks. Implementing MFA adds an extra layer of security, requiring users to provide multiple forms of verification before gaining access. This approach significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access due to compromised credentials.

For organizations seeking to implement MFA for Active Directory, solutions like Rublon’s MFA for Active Directory offer seamless integration, enhancing security without compromising user experience.

Integrating MFA into your Active Directory environment can significantly strengthen your organization’s security posture, safeguarding against unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

Benefits of Implementing MFA for Active Directory

• User Confidence: Implementing MFA enhances user trust by demonstrating a commitment to protecting their personal and professional information.
• Increased Security: By requiring additional verification methods, MFA mitigates the risk of unauthorized access, even if user passwords are compromised.
• Compliance Adherence: Many cybersecurity regulations mandate the use of MFA to protect sensitive information, ensuring your organization remains compliant.

What is LDAP?

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is a protocol that applications can use to speak to directory services such as Active Directory. The LDAP protocol queries user information to read, modify or update it.

During user authentication, LDAP can bind to the directory service database, such as Active Directory. While advanced ways of authentication such as Kerberos token and client certificate are possible, the simplest authentication is simply checking the username and password the user entered into the application log-in form against the information stored in a directory server. If the entered information is correct, the user gets logged in. Otherwise, the user is denied access.

Sometimes people use the name LDAP when they mean an LDAP server. An LDAP server is any directory server that supports the LDAP protocol. Examples of LDAP servers include FreeIPA, OpenLDAP, Apache Directory Server, and Active Directory.

How Does LDAP Authentication Work?

LDAP authentication works based on a binding operation. The LDAP Bind operation initiates a session between the user and the server, during which an LDAP-enabled application sends the user’s credentials to a directory service like Active Directory to check if they are correct.

1. User enters credentials.
2. LDAP protocol sends credentials to the LDAP server
3. LDAP server checks the credentials against the database, decides whether the credentials are correct, and prepares the answer
4. LDAP protocol takes the LDAP server’s answer and sends it back to application
5. The application receives the answer and acts upon it, e.g., if the answer is yes, the application logs in the user; if no, the application prints “Username or password incorrect”

Enhancing LDAP Security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is widely used for accessing and managing directory information services over a network. While LDAP facilitates efficient directory queries and modifications, relying solely on password-based authentication can expose systems to security risks. Implementing MFA adds an additional layer of security, requiring users to provide multiple forms of verification before gaining access.

For organizations seeking to implement MFA for LDAP, solutions like Rublon’s MFA for LDAP offer seamless integration, enhancing security without compromising user experience.

Integrating MFA into your LDAP environment can significantly strengthen your organization’s security posture, safeguarding against unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

Benefits of Implementing MFA for LDAP

• User Confidence: Implementing MFA enhances user trust by demonstrating a commitment to protecting their personal and professional information.
• Enhanced Security: By requiring additional verification methods, MFA mitigates the risk of unauthorized access, even if user passwords are compromised.
• Regulatory Compliance: Many regulatory frameworks mandate the use of MFA to protect sensitive information, ensuring your organization remains compliant.

LDAP vs. Active Directory: What’s the Difference?

The main difference between Active Directory and LDAP is that Active Directory is a directory services database, while LDAP is a protocol that talks to it.

Refer to the following table for more LDAP vs. Active Directory differences.

	LDAP	AD
Full Name	Lightweight Directory Access Protocol	Active Directory
Function	Protocol	Directory Services Provider (Directory Server)
Standard	Open-Source	Proprietary
Supported Systems	Cross-Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS	For Windows users and applications
Primary Use	Querying and modifying items in Directory Services Providers	Providing authentication, policies, group and user management, and many other services in the form of a directory database

Abbreviations like LDAP and AD might not tell you much about these technologies. However, full names already contain a hint. LDAP is an abbreviation of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. The full name makes it clear that LDAP is a lightweight protocol you can use to access a directory. A directory like Active Directory. Both AD and LDAP have different functions. LDAP is a protocol. Active Directory is a directory server.

LDAP is a cross-platform open standard, but Active Directory is Microsoft’s proprietary software meant for Windows users and applications.

The primary use of LDAP is to query and modify directory servers. On the other hand, the primary usage of Active Directory is to store user information, provide authentication, and allow administrators to manage groups, users, and policies.

LDAP vs. Active Directory: Cyberattacks

Centralized access control comes with many benefits. Administrators can easily manage users and devices while users can use the same account on multiple applications and services. However, such a solution comes with a security concern. Should hackers compromise an account, they gain instant access to a user’s account on all applications and services. Worse still, hackers can take over the entire IT infrastructure if they compromise an administrator’s account. Active Directory administrator accounts are a prime target for hackers.

Password-based authentication is the most popular form of verifying user identity. Sadly, passwords are easily hackable, contributing to a heightened risk of hackers compromising your Active Directory infrastructure.

How Does MFA Protect Your Active Directory Users?

Thankfully, you can enhance the security of user logins by introducing an extra layer of protection. For example, require the user to accept a push notification on their phone after they entered a correct password. Such authentication is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and is a vital part of modern identity management. The good thing about MFA is that it does not change your old authentication process. Instead, Multi-Factor Authentication adds another layer of security on top of passwords. In the first step of MFA, passwords are still checked against the LDAP server. Then, a security provider like Rublon demands the user to demonstrate the second authentication factor, such as accepting the Mobile Push authentication request sent to the user’s phone. Users can access their account only if they enter the correct password and complete the second authentication factor. Otherwise, the user is denied access. MFA stops hackers who managed to compromise the user’s password because these malicious actors usually do not have access to the user’s mobile device and cannot accept the push notification.

Conclusion

LDAP and Active Directory are often used in tandem. They share few commonalities and should not be treated as competitive solutions. Since Active Directory and other LDAP servers like OpenLDAP act as centralized identity providers, it is of utmost importance to protect them with comprehensive safeguards like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

Rublon Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a cutting-edge security solution that supports hundreds of applications, VPNs, and services.

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