Architecture Overview of Sync Types

SharePoint Out-of-the-Box: Active Directory Import to SharePoint User Profile Database

Out-of-the-box, SharePoint allows the system administrator to do a one time import of the Active Directory (AD) user account and profile information into SharePoint during the initial deployment via the Central Administration. The process of importing data from the AD into SharePoint is shown in the diagram here.

User Profile Sync application runs as a service on the SharePoint web server. There are four or five sync types to choose from, depending on whether you are using SharePoint 2013/2010 or SharePoint 2007, and which user directory you use as your master vs. secondary user directories that you need to sync with your master.

User Profile Sync offers the following sync types:

Sync Type	Description
Active Directory to SharePoint Site Collection Profile (also known as User Information List in WSS 3.0)	User Profile Sync reads the user profile data from Active Directory and updates the corresponding data in the designated Site Collection Profile. This sync type is available for both SharePoint Foundation 2013/2010 and WSS 3.0. This diagram depicts how each of these components fits together as part of the solution.
SharePoint Site Collection Profile to SharePoint Site Collection Profile	User Profile Sync reads the user profile data from a Site Collection Profile designated as the “master” list and updates one or more Site Collection Profiles in Site Collections on the same server. This sync type is available for both SharePoint Foundation 2010 and WSS 3.0. The diagram here depicts how each of these components fits together as part of the solution.
Active Directory to SharePoint Contacts List SharePoint Foundation 2013/2010, SharePoint Server 2013/2010, or WSS 3.0/MOSS 2007	For this sync type, User Profile Sync application reads the user profile data from Active Directory and updates the corresponding data in the designated SharePoint Foundation 2013/2010, SharePoint Server 2013/2010 or WSS 3.0/MOSS 2007 Contacts List through a data linked column set up in the Contacts List. This diagram depicts how each of these components fits together as part of the solution. NOTE: If you need to use the AD to Contacts List sync type to maintain your user profile information, then you need to create a column in the Contacts List that has a column type of Person or Group or a Single Line of Text. The column name can be any name as long as the data in this column matches the account name in Active Directory or the WSS 3.0 User Information List (depending on the sync type you select). If using column data type Person or Group, the Account option must be selected for the Show Field column setting. If using the column data type Single Line of Text, the value entered must be in the following format [Domain][UserName]. IMPORTANT: For the AD to Contacts List sync type, the MOSS 2007 or SharePoint Server 2010/2013 account must belong to a group that has Contributor rights or better. This account must be able to edit the Contacts List in order to update it. You must also check that the permissions on the Contacts List itself allow the MOSS 2007 or SharePoint Server 2010/2013 account user to edit the list. You can check the List Permissions in the List Settings of the Contacts List.
SharePoint Contacts List to SharePoint Site Collection Profile	User Profile Sync application reads the user profile data from a SharePoint Foundation 2013/2010 or WSS 3.0 Contacts List and updates a Site Collection Profile on the same server through a data linked column set up in the Contacts List. The diagram here depicts how each of these components fits together as part of the solution.
SharePoint User Profile Database (MOSS 2007) Sync to Active Directory	NOTE: There is not an equivalent sync type for SharePoint Server 2013/2010 as this feature is already available in the SharePoint Server 2013/2010 feature set.) For this sync type, User Profile Sync reads the user profile data from SharePoint’s User Profile database and updates the corresponding LDAP directory services such as the Active Directory database, thus allowing your company to leverage SharePoint profile management.