When you create a new public folder, an information store client creates a folder (Folder_Generic) in the public folder store hierarchy. Users who create folders are called folder owners and are identified through their personal information store.
After a public folder is created, the information store makes the folder accessible to other information stores. The folder owner can impose restrictions so that certain information store accounts (users) do not have access to the public folder.
All users have a hierarchy server to which they can connect. This hierarchy server determines the hierarchy structure that should be displayed in Microsoft Outlook. The hierarchy server is set on a per-private-server basis. A server with a private information store provides this setting in the General property page.
As mentioned in the preceding section, public folders are distributed, that is, not all public folder content resides in every information store. One advantage of this distribution is that the information in all public folders in an organization can be many times the size of the largest information store hard disk. A disadvantage is that additional automatic processing is needed to locate the information store where a particular public folder resides.