SFU Groups - Introduction to Group Management

OVERVIEW

This article introduces SFU Groups, explaining their purpose, how they work, and the different types available. It also outlines the key differences between Exchange Distribution Groups and Security Groups, helping users understand how to manage access and permissions effectively.

• What is a group?
• Type of Groups
• Comparison Chart

What is a group?

In SFU Groups, groups are used to organize users who have similar roles or responsibilities. Think of a group as a team or a club: when you add users to a group, you can manage their access to resources and privileges all at once, instead of doing it individually for each user.

Since SFU is a large and complex organization, managing groups instead of individual users ensures our resources are organized and secure. It also makes sure that only the right people can access certain resources.

Type of Groups

In SFU Groups, there are two types of groups for the standard user: Exchange Distribution Groups and Security Groups.

Exchange Distribution Groups (EDGs, or distribution groups) is a feature of Microsoft Exchange (SFU's email system) that allows a user to send messages to a list of SFU email addresses, or to members of other SFU Groups, all at once.

For more information, visit Request an Exchange Distribution Group.

Security groups (or reference groups) are used for security or access control to services or resources. Security groups contain a list of SFU members and can be synced to multiple services or resources to provide access, assign privileges or provision licensing.

For more information, visit Request a Security Group (Reference Group).

Some security groups may be called reference groups if they are managed by departments or staff. This is to distinguish from policy groups (also security groups) which are managed by IT service managers and IT admins.

Comparison Chart