The Active Roles ADSI Provider operates as part of Presentation Components to enable custom user interfaces and applications to access Active Directory services through Active Roles. The Active Roles ADSI Provider translates client requests into DCOM calls and interacts with the Active Roles Administration Service.
The Active Roles ADSI Provider allows custom scripts and applications, such as web-based applications, to communicate with Active Directory, while taking full advantage of the security, workflow integration and reporting benefits of Active Roles. For example, using the Active Roles ADSI Provider, you can create web-based helpdesk operator pages for property modifications, restricted by the corporate rules enforced with Active Roles.
Active Roles offers comprehensive reporting to monitor administrative actions, corporate policy compliance, and the state of directory objects. The Active Roles reporting solution includes Data Collector and Report Pack.
Report Pack provides report definitions for creating reports based on the data gathered by Data Collector. Active Roles comes with an extensive suite of report definitions that cover all administrative actions available in this product.
Report Pack is deployed on Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). You can use the tools included with SSRS to view, save, print, publish, and schedule Active Roles reports.
Data Collector is used to gather data required for reporting. The Data Collector Wizard allows you to configure and schedule data collection jobs.
Once configured, Data Collector retrieves data from various sources, accessing them via the Active Roles Administration Service, and stores the data in a SQL Server database. Data Collector also provides a means for managing the gathered data, including the ability to export or delete obsolete data.
At the core of Active Roles lies the Administration Service. It features advanced delegation capabilities and ensures the reliable enforcement of administrative policies that keep data current and accurate. The Administration Service acts as a bridge between the presentation components and network data sources. In large networks, multiple Administration Service instances can be deployed to improve performance and ensure fault tolerance.
The data processing component accepts administrative requests and validates them by checking permissions and rules stored in the Administration Database. This component manages the network data sources, retrieving or changing the appropriate network object data based on administrative requests and policy definitions.
The data processing component operates as a secure service. It logs on with domain user accounts having sufficient privileges to access the domains registered with Active Roles (managed domains). The access to the managed domains is limited by the access rights of those user accounts.
