Active Directory® for Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Technical Reference

Managing User Data and Profile Settings

One of the challenges facing a network administrator is managing user data and user profiles. The data that users work with is often business-critical, so it must be properly secured and managed. In most cases, the data should be centrally stored and regularly backed up. Companies have many ways of dealing with this data. In most cases, the data is stored on a network share and all users are required to store all company data on that share. However, many users also store some data on their desktop computers, especially those who use portable computers, who might need the data when they are not connected to the network.

Another aspect of managing desktop computers is the management of user profiles, which ...