domainwide

Domainwide (also written domain-wide) is a compound adjective used in information technology to describe actions, policies, or configurations that apply across an entire domain. A domain, in this context, refers to a centralized administrative boundary that groups identities, devices, and services under a common namespace, such as a Windows Active Directory domain or a cloud-based identity domain.

Common uses include domain-wide authentication and single sign-on, where users can access multiple services with a unified credential set; domain-wide policy enforcement, typically implemented through mechanisms like Group Policy in Windows or equivalent cloud policies, which apply settings to all domain-joined devices and accounts; and domain-wide access control, where permissions are defined at the domain level and propagated to subsystems and applications.

Other associated concepts include domain-wide DNS and naming, where the DNS zone covers the entire domain namespace to provide consistent name resolution and mail routing; and, in cloud environments, domain-wide delegation, such as service accounts that can impersonate users within the domain to access data via APIs, which administrators configure for automation and integration.

Limitations and considerations include the increased risk and impact of misconfiguration due to broad scope, the need for careful governance and monitoring, and the fact that domain-wide settings may not cross trust boundaries in multi-domain or multi-forest deployments. See also Domain, Active Directory, Group Policy, Google Workspace, domain-wide delegation.