AD RMS

Question

I have one AD RMS server installed in Dev environment. I want to ensure that users will be able to access the documents already secured and will be able to restrict access on new documents even if AD RMS server goes down for a while.I am testing it at
my end but getting mixed results. So not clear with the results. I see some security settings in the AD RMS template but I am not clear with what does what.Please share your experience in case you have already worked on it.

Answer 1

AD RMS might not be the right solution for your requirements. Azure RMS sounds like a much better fit for you.
When a protected document is opened for the first time, RMS (both ADRMS and Azure RMS) must validate the user at least once. Then if the RMS template used to protect the document allows for offline access, then that same user can subsequently open that same
document for the period of time defined in the RMS template (for example, up to 7 days). So during that 7 day offline period, the RMS service can be down and the user can still open the protected document, however, users who have not contacted the RMS service
at least once will not be able to open the document when the RMS server is offline. That is why Azure RMS is a better fit for your needs, because a Cloud service is highly available, much more so that what most organizations can design for their on-premise
environments. 
For more information about RMS concepts, and what the security settings are in the RMS templates, see these URLS:
RMS Concepts
http://blogs.technet.com/b/rms/archive/2012/04/16/ad-rms-infrastructure-concepts-part-1.aspx
RMS Whitepaper (July 2013)
http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-components-postattachments/00-03-58-79-43/Microsoft-Rights-Management-_2D00_-English-_2800_July-2013_2900_.docx
Azure RMS Pricing
http://blogs.technet.com/b/rms/archive/2013/07/16/azure-rms-pricing-and-availability.aspx
RMS Prerequisites
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd772659(v=ws.10).aspx
RMS Team Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/b/rms/
Azure RMS on Technet
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj585024
How RMS protects documents
http://blogs.technet.com/b/rms/archive/2012/04/16/licenses-and-certificates-and-how-ad-rms-protects-and-consumes-documents.aspx
RMS Best Practices Guide
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj735304.aspx
IRM Deployment Guide in Office for Mac 2011
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20825
RMS Forum
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-us/rms/threads
RMS Troubleshooting Guide
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/13130.ad-rms-troubleshooting-guide.aspx
Joe Stocker www.TheCloudTechnologist.com