Comparision on Azure Cloud Sync and Traditional Entra connect Sync.
Introduction In the evolving landscape of identity management, organizations face a critical decision when integrating their on-premises Active Directory (AD) with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD). Two primary tools are available for this synchronization: Traditional Entra Connect Sync (formerly Azure AD Connect) Azure Cloud Sync While both serve the same fundamental purpose, bridging on-prem AD with cloud identity, they differ significantly in architecture, capabilities, and ideal use cases. Architecture & Setup Entra Connect Sync is a heavyweight solution. It installs a full synchronization engine on a Windows Server, often backed by SQL Server. This setup gives administrators deep control over sync rules, attribute flows, and filtering. Azure Cloud Sync, on the other hand, is lightweight. It uses a cloud-managed agent installed on-premises, removing the need for SQL Server or complex infrastructure. The agent communicates with Microsoft Entra ID, and most configurations are handled in the cloud portal. For organizations with complex hybrid setups (e.g., Exchange hybrid, device management), is Cloud Sync too limited?