What improvements have been made to Active Directory in Windows Server 2025?

Windows Server 2025 introduces several significant improvements to Active Directory (AD) to enhance performance, security, and manageability. Here are some key enhancements:

• New Functional Level: Windows Server 2025 introduces a new functional level for domains and forests, allowing organizations to take advantage of the latest features and improvements.
• 32K Database Pages: The database page size has been increased from 8K to 32K, allowing individual objects to be larger and multi-value attributes to accommodate up to 3200 values. This change significantly improves the efficiency and scalability of the AD database.
• Security Enhancements: Windows Server 2025 includes several security improvements for Active Directory, such as updated algorithms for Name/SID Lookups, enhanced encryption protocols, and better hardening against attacks3.
• Delegate Managed Service Accounts (dMSA): Unlike traditional service accounts, dMSAs do not require manual password management. AD automatically handles password changes, reducing security risks and providing better visibility and logs of service account activity.
• Improved Database Log Files (LDF): The new database log files (LDF) format enhances the performance and reliability of AD operations, ensuring faster and more efficient data processing.
• Domain Controller Discovery: Enhancements in domain controller discovery improve the efficiency and reliability of locating domain controllers within the network, ensuring better connectivity and performance