A single virtual image of client information centrally located at an always-on network location for maintaining equivalency among multiple user devices. The image can be accessed by the user devices when coming online to upload and receive changes in the client information. A mid-tier system can be employed as the always-on central location with which the user client machines can communicate to maintain the same set of client information. Services in support thereof include an ownership service for dynamic selection of a designated client machine to take ownership for performing the actions on one client machine and arbitration of duplicate requests, a notification service for allowing data sources to publish cache update instructions to a central place, a roaming service for allowing clients machines to share state with each other, and an encryption service for secure storage and communications of client information.