When running in offline mode with a network connection but uncontactable kerberos and ldap servers, sssd currently introduces long pauses while trying to repeatedly discover whether or not the remote servers have recovered. These delays disappear while sssd believes the servers to be offline, but then sssd will check if the service has come up periodically, reintroducing the delay, making sssd unusable in this situation. This may occur where directory servers are only accessible within a company firewall for example.

This checking should be done in the background such that the user is unaware of any delays. For a machine that's typically away from the authentication servers (laptop) it may also be useful to be able to set a preference that the machine is assumed to be offline until servers are discovered, to avoid any initial delay.