Enhanced Security Admin Environment

  • Dedicated administrative forest for managing critical assets like administrative users, groups and computers.
  • Since a forest is considered a security boundary rather than a domain, this model provides enhanced security controls.
  • The administrative forest is also called the Red Forest.
  • Administrative users in a production forest are used as standard non-privileged users in the administrative forest.
  • Selective Authentication to the Red Forest enables stricter security controls on logon of users from non-administrative forests.
  • Microsoft retired ESAE in 2021 and replaced it with Privileged Access Strategy.