Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) is a Microsoft identity access solution. It was an optional component of Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 R2. It is now built into Windows Server® 2008, Windows Server® 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019. AD FS helps to establish trust relationships and reduces the need for provisioning and managing user accounts. Its implementation provides clients (internal or external to the trusted internal LAN) with simplified access to systems and applications relying on claims-based authorization. AD FS also supports web Single-Sign-On (SSO) technologies to improve user experience across multiple protected applications.

Trust relationships are used to project a user’s digital identity and access rights to trusted partners and can be deployed in multiple organizations to facilitate business-to-business (B2B) transactions between trusted partner organizations.

Document Purpose

This documentation is intended to provide guidance on how to configure LoadMaster products to provide high availability for an AD FS 3.0 or AD FS 4.0 environment, based on Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2019. This documentation is created using a representative sample environment described later in the document. As this documentation is not intended to cover every possible deployment scenario, it may not address unique setup or requirements. The Progress Kemp Support Team is always available to provide solutions for scenarios not explicitly defined.

Intended Audience

It is assumed that the reader is a server/network administrator or a person otherwise familiar with networking and general computer terminology and is familiar with AD FS technology.