AD Connect Sync Plus Agent serves as a mediation agent for connecting the AD Connect Sync Plus Portal with the intended source and target DCs. The agent is installed on mediation servers (standalone servers), that are part of the network of each source and target DC. It is responsible for fetching data from the DC servers over LDAPs and routing it to the ADCS Plus Portal. 

There should be at least one mediation server in each entity (Active Directory). Both source and target entities will have mediation servers. The mediation server is responsible for data retrieval from the DCs. Communication between the mediation servers and DCs will be established using LDAP/LDAPS only. It is recommended to have Kerberos authentication on the DCs. The mediation server is also responsible for pushing the retrieved data towards the HUB. It will parse the data and push the last modified objects towards the HUB and from the HUB server the data will be routed to its destination (target).

There can be more than one mediation server in an entity for the purpose of high availability. More than one mediation server can communicate in HA mode with the HUB. The mediation servers will work in active-passive mode controlled by the application (ADCS Plus). This means only one mediation node will be active at a time, pushing data to the control server (portal server).

AD Connect Sync Plus Agent includes three main components:

• Sync Service
• Config Utility
• Update Service

Sync Service

The sync service is responsible for synchronizing data. It’s a Windows service. It fetches data from the linked DC and sends it to the HUB at scheduled intervals. It also receives data from the HUB to update in the linked DC. The sync service also maintains a record of connected ADs and authentication information. In addition, it also receives new software update notifications.

Config Utility

The AD Connect Sync Plus agent also comprises a desktop configuration utility. The utility is a front-end GUI for the agent and presents a configuration interface for the input of various settings. The utility is authenticated with the AD Connect Sync Plus portal through an authentication token.  

Update Service

The update service monitors new updates. When new updates (builds) are available, it automatically updates the AD Connect Sync Plus agent. It basically is a Windows service and is installed on the mediation agent server.