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Chapter 2 Getting Started with User Management 37
When users save files in network home folders, the files are stored on the server.
Additionally, when users access home folders, even for common tasks like caching
webpages, the users’ computers must retrieve these files from the server.
Using network home folders provides complete control over a user’s managed
preferences. When users are not connected to the network, they can’t access their
accounts or home folders.
 Users with mobile accounts have both local and network home folders, which
combine to form portable home directories.
When users save files, the files are stored in a local home folder. The portable home
directory is a synced subset of a user’s local and network home folders. You can
configure which folders to sync and how frequently to sync them.
Mobile accounts also cache authentication information and managed preferences. If
you sync key folders, a user can work on and off the network, and experience a
seamless work environment.
If you choose not to sync portable home directories, mobile accounts are then very
similar to local accounts, except that mobile accounts have managed preferences.
 Users with mobile accounts who access their accounts on computers running
Mac OS X v10.5 or later can use portable home directories with an external drive.
When users connect external drives to a computer (including computers off of the
network), they can still access their accounts. These types of mobile accounts are
called external accounts.
An external account stores its local home folder on the external drive and doesn’t
create a local home folder on the computer it’s accessed from.
Except for the location of the local home folder, external accounts are treated like
mobile accounts, with the same kinds of syncing, cached authentication, and
managed preference benefits.
Note: If a user’s mobile account is hosted in an Active Directory domain, the mobile
account does not have a portable home directory. However, it does have a local home
folder and a network home folder, and caches authentication.
Mobile accounts and external accounts are described in detail in Chapter 8,
“Managing Portable Computers.”
Devising a Home Folder Distribution Strategy
Determine which users need home folders and identify the computers where you want
these home folders to reside. For performance reasons, avoid using network home
folders over network connections slower than 100 megabits per second (Mbit/s).