As per the earlier announcement of Microsoft, DirSync and Azure AD sync was deprecated on April 2016. Microsoft support ends for these tools by April 13, 2017, and sync will not works after December 31st, 2017.The last release of DirSync was released in July 2014 and the last release of Azure AD Sync was released in May 2015
Dirsync was offered for single forest and Azure AD sync was offered for multi-forest. Azure AD connect is a combination both tools with new functionality and feature enhancements.
Azure Active Directory Connect is made up of three primary components: the synchronization services, the optional Active Directory Federation Services component, and the monitoring component named Azure AD Connect Health.
- Synchronization – This component is responsible for creating users, groups, and other objects. It is also responsible for making sure identity information for your on-premises users and groups is matching the cloud.
- AD FS – Federation is an optional part of Azure AD Connect and can be used to configure a hybrid environment using an on-premises AD FS infrastructure. This can be used by organizations to address complex deployments, such as domain join SSO, enforcement of AD sign-in policy, and smart card or 3rd party MFA.
- Health Monitoring – Azure AD Connect Health can provide robust monitoring and provide a central location in the Azure portal to view this activity.
Upgrade from DirSync
- In-place upgrade.
- Parallel deployment.