source: vendor/current/docs-xml/smbdotconf/misc/nishomedir.xml

<samba:parameter name="NIS homedir"
                 context="G"
                 type="boolean"
                 xmlns:samba="http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc">
<description>
        <para>Get the home share server from a NIS map. For 
        UNIX systems that use an automounter, the user's home directory 
        will often be mounted on a workstation on demand from a remote 
        server. </para>

        <para>When the Samba logon server is not the actual home directory 
        server, but is mounting the home directories via NFS then two 
        network hops would be required to access the users home directory 
        if the logon server told the client to use itself as the SMB server 
        for home directories (one over SMB and one over NFS). This can 
        be very slow.</para>

        <para>This option allows Samba to return the home share as 
        being on a different server to the logon server and as 
        long as a Samba daemon is running on the home directory server, 
        it will be mounted on the Samba client directly from the directory 
        server. When Samba is returning the home share to the client, it 
        will consult the NIS map specified in
        <smbconfoption name="homedir map"/> and return the server 
        listed there.</para>

        <para>Note that for this option to work there must be a working 
        NIS system and the Samba server with this option must also 
        be a logon server.</para>
</description>
<value type="default">no</value>
</samba:parameter>