Roam, Roam in the Domain

Credential roaming, a new feature in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), enables Windows domain users to access their public key infrastructure (PKI) private keys and certificates from any workstation they log on to in the Windows domain. Their credentials can roam with them thanks to the Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS), which stores a secured copy of a user's PKI credentials in the user's Active Directory (AD) object and keeps them in sync with the local PKI credentials stored in the user's certificate and private key store on the workstation.

This article explains how DIMS credential roaming works, how it compares with other Microsoft PKI credential roaming solutions, how to configure it, and how to use it to best advantage in Windows domain environments.

Credential Roaming, Roaming Profiles, and Smart Cards
An important characteristic of DIMS and credential roaming is that they enable Windows domain users to have access to their PKI credentials from any domain machine without the overhead of configuring, using, and maintaining roaming user profiles or smart cards. . . .