# Active Directory forest

Source: https://docs.rubrik.com/en-us/saas/adds/active_directory_forest.html

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# Active Directory forest

Rubrik Security Cloud offers protection services for the Active Directory forest hierarchy. You can protect and recover the entire forest hierarchy in the event of a disaster or ransomware attack.

Protecting and recovering the entire Active Directory (AD) forest requires purchasing Rubrik Identity Recovery License. RSC supports protection and recovery of an AD forest for Rubrik clusters running Rubrik CDM version 9.2.2 or later. The object and attribute comparison feature also requires the Rubrik Identity Recovery License.

An AD forest is the topmost organizational boundary and logical container in an AD environment. It comprises one or more AD domains that share a common schema, configuration, and global catalog, enabling centralized management and coherent structure. Within an AD forest, domains can collaborate through trusted relationships, resource sharing, and unified security policies. This hierarchical framework facilitates the integration of diverse organizational units, users, computers, and policies, ensuring consistent access control and administration across large and complex enterprise networks.

AD forest offers several key advantages for managing and organizing directory services in large, complex environments.

RSC enables comprehensive recovery and protection of entire AD forest in the event of data threats. Key benefits include centralized domain management and discovery, SLA Domain assignment for protection, and automated recovery processes following best practices recommended by Microsoft. The solution minimizes downtime and mitigates the risk of malware reintroduction. It also enhances security, provides a detailed view of forest hierarchies, and supports various recovery use cases. Additional features include DNS recovery, advanced recovery settings, metadata erasure for unselected domain controllers, and recovery progress tracking.

You can protect your AD forest by:

  * Adding the domain controller to Rubrik cluster as a Windows host: This task ensures that the AD domain controller is part of the Rubrik backup environment.
  * Assigning an SLA Domain at the forest level: This task ensures that all domains within the forest receive the same level of protection.

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