Patent attributes
An Active Directory Bridge (AD Bridge) provides the ability to register, represent, and manage external network resources on an internal network using Group Policy Objects (GPOs). The AD bridge provides the ability to create GPOs in native Active Directory, where the settings are managed within the GPO and can be associated with Active Directory Organizational Units. The AD bridge provides the ability to manage, monitor, and enforce these settings for external cloud resources by Group Policy. The GPOs may be read from the Domain Controller (e.g., Sysvol) by the AD bridge, then translated and delivered to the cloud resource being managed. As GPOs are updated and deployed, the settings are detected and delivered to the cloud resource. When the cloud resource settings are changed outside of the GPO, the AD bridge monitors and reacts to any changes, making Group Policy the enforcement mechanism for the cloud resources.