Offline settings for shared resources

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Offline settings for shared resources

You can use Offline Files to work with shared resources even when you are not connected to the network. When you create a shared resource, you can specify if and how files in the shared resource are cached (stored) locally on client computers when other users access the files.

To make shared network resources available offline, Offline Files stores a version of the shared resources in a reserved portion of disk space on the client computer, which is called a file system cache. The client computer can access this cache whether or not the client computer is connected to the network.

You can choose one of the following caching options for each shared resource:

  • Only the files and programs that users specify will be available offline.
    This option gives users control over which files are available offline.
  • All files and programs that users open from the share will be automatically available offline.
    This option allows all the files that users open from the shared folder to be automatically available offline. If you select the Optimized for performance check box, all programs will be automatically cached so that they can be run locally. This option is especially useful for file servers that host applications, because it reduces network traffic and improves server scalability.
  • Files or programs from the share will not be available offline.
    This option prevents users from storing files offline.

Important

  • When you create a new shared resource, offline access is allowed by default, which means that secure shared resources can be stored offline on potentially insecure computers. For best security, do not allow users to store files offline. If you do, be sure to set permissions appropriately using either share permissions or access control on the NTFS file system. For more information, see Set permissions on a shared resource and Set, view, change, or remove permissions on files and folders.

Offline access may be limited if simple file sharing is enabled. For more information about simple file sharing, see article Q304040, "Description of File Sharing and Permissions in Windows XP," in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

For more information about Offline Files, see Offline Files overview. For more information about how to configure offline access for shared resources, see Configure offline settings for a shared resource.