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Session Computing provides information and guidance on Application
and Desktop Delivery via Terminal Services, Hosted Virtual Desktops
and Physical Desktops |
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Industry News
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New Article - How to install and configure
Print-IT, the Universal Printer Driver features of Provision
Networks Virtual Access Suite (April 09, 2008) |
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New Article - How to install and configure
a Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite Enterprise Edition,
Part 3. This article details how to configure Desktop
Services (VDI) and integrate with VMware Virtual Center or
Virtual Iron (March 12, 2008) |
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New Article - How to install and configure
a Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite Enterprise Edition,
Part 2. This article details how to install Virtual Access
Suite on Windows Terminal Services and how to Publish
Applications (February 20, 2008) |
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Citrix renames Citrix Presentation Server
to XenApp Server (January 28, 2008) |
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Microsoft acquires Calista Technologies,
developers of advanced graphics technologies for Microsoft's
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) (January 22, 2008) |
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New Article - Dr. Alex Danilychev (author
of iShadow and Virtual Display Manager) has written an article
"Getting Started with the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client and
Smart Card Authentication" |
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New Article - How to install and configure
a Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite Enterprise Edition
(January 09, 2008) |
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New Article - How to install and configure
a Citrix Program Neighborhood Agent Services Site and the Citrix
Program Neighborhood Agent Client. (November 21, 2007) |
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Citrix releases
Presentation Server Clients Version 10.150
for Windows Vista, XP, 2003 & 2000 (November 19, 2007) |
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Breaking News -
Quest Software Enters the Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure Market with Acquisition of Provision Networks
(November 12, 2007) |
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New Article - How To Install and Configure
Citrix Web Interface 4.6 and Citrix Secure Gateway on the same
server (Part 2 of 2) (October 17, 2007)
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Provision Networks unveils Next Generation
Connection Broker in Virtual Access Suite 5.9 (September 10,
2007) |
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New Article - How To Install and Configure
Citrix Web Interface 4.6 and Citrix Secure Gateway on the same
server (Part 1) (September 13, 2007) |
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New Article - How to Configure Folder
Redirection (August 22, 2007)
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Microsoft Releases a Beta of Remote
Desktop Client 2.0 for Mac (July 31, 2007) |
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HP Strengthens Thin Client Computing
Offering with Acquisition of Neoware Inc. (July 23, 2007) |
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Citrix releases Web Interface 4.6 for
Presentation Server (July 20, 2007) |
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Provision Networks and IBM Collaborate to
Promote Large Scale Virtual Client Solution (VCS) Deployments
(July 17, 2007) |
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New Article - How to Publish Windows Shell
Extensions and Control Panel Applets (July 12, 2007)
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>> More News >> |
Windows Terminal Server Overview
| Terminal Server is a Windows Service that enables Windows
Server to host multiple concurrent interactive user "sessions" |
| A session is the user environment, whether it's an entire
virtual Windows Desktop, or a singular application. |
| The underlying technology behind
Windows Terminal Server,
know as
MultiWin, was originally developed by Citrix Systems for
a product called
WinFrame. WinFrame extended Windows NT Server
3.51 to support multiple concurrent user sessions via the Citrix
ICA (Independent Computing Architecture) Protocol. |
| Microsoft later released Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal
Server Edition and their own
RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)
Protocol. |
| In 1999 Microsoft released the Windows 2000 Server product
line, which came with Terminal Server built-into the core OS. |
| Citrix continues to develop their
ICA Protocol for their
current Presentation Server product line, which runs on top of
Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. |
| Citrix Presentation Server
extends Windows Terminal
Server with centralized management and their ICA protocol, while
many competitors like Provision Networks, Ericom, 2X and HOB
sell products based on Microsoft's RDP Protocol. |
| Today the RDP Protocol is used for Terminal Server,
Remote Desktop,
Remote Assistance,
Fast User Switching,
and
Media Center Extender |
Server Based Computing FAQ
| Q: What is "Server Based Computing"? A: An
environment where applications are hosted on a Windows Terminal
Server or Linux Terminal Server and delivered to the client
computer via Microsoft RDP Protocol,
Citrix ICA Protocol or
Linux X11 Protocol. In this arrangement all application
processing takes place on the terminal server, allowing low
powered legacy computers or thin-client terminals to execute
current 32 or 64 bit applications. |
| Q: What is a "thin-client"? A: In the
traditional sense, a thin-client is a terminal that displays
applications running on a terminal server. It doesn't have
a hard drive or moving parts, just a CPU, NIC, Video Card, local
I/O ports and embedded OS (usually Windows CE, Windows XPe or
Linux). It is however very common to run thin-client
applications on a fat-client computer (PC, Mac or Linux
Workstation) by way of a Remote Desktop or Citrix ICA Client. |
| Q: If I go with Server Based Computing, will I be able
to print to my local printer or access my local files & devices?
A: Generally, yes, however it depends on the server's
capabilities, the type of client you're using and the local
hardware you're trying to interact with. |
| Q: What is VDI?
VDI is an acronym for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure which
generally means connecting users to computers hosted in the data
center via protocols like RDP, ICA, RGS, TCX or SPICE.
This is done to centralize management of corporate desktops and
to extend the usability of Server Based Computing, as VDI offers
more flexibility and less complex management than Terminal
Services. |
Terminal Server FAQ
| Q: Why would a company choose to use Terminal Server?
A: Terminal Server is a very efficient way to rapidly deploy and
maintain applications, since they run entirely on the server,
and the end user can access them via a standard RDP or ICA
Client. With Terminal Server you could deploy applications
to your entire organization/enterprise without ever touching a
client computer. Companies that deploy Terminal Server
spend significantly less money supporting each desktop, since
administrators can assist users remotely, and do not need to
visit their computers to update software. |
| Q: Do I need a VPN to securely access thin-client
applications across the Internet? A: No. Both RDP and ICA are natively encrypted protocols that transmit only
screen data to the remote client and keyboard strokes and mouse
clicks from the remote client to the server. Even when you
print or copy files to a remote client, this data is encrypted
by the RDP or ICA protocol. |
| Q: Do Terminal Server hosted applications use less
bandwidth than applications running over a VPN? A:
Absolutely, YES. It can often require several hundred
kilobits to a few megabits of bandwidth for a single user to run
a fat-client application over a VPN, whereas RDP and ICA
applications often use as little as 20Kbps and rarely require
more than 50-75Kbps per session. |
| Q: Can I use the advanced features of the Citrix ICA
Client without running Citrix Presentation Server on my Terminal
Server? A: NO. In order to use an ICA Client,
your Terminal Server MUST be running Citrix MetaFrame or Citrix
Presentation Server. |
| Q: What ports do RDP and ICA Protocols use? A; By default
Terminal Server listens on TCP Port 3389 for RDP Clients, and
Citrix Presentation Server listens on TCP Port 1494 (or 2598 in
Presentation Server 4) for ICA Clients. |
| Q: What if I can't communicate via one of these
non-standard ports, and need to connect over HTTP(S) (TCP Ports
80/443)? A: In this situation you need to connect
via a Terminal Server Gateway like
2X Load Balancer for Windows Terminal
Services,
Tunnel2, or
one of the above mentioned Terminal Server
Add-ons
that includes an SSL Gateway. |
| Q: How many concurrent user sessions can one terminal
server host? A: This is entirely dependent on the
server hardware and type of application, however a Dual Xeon CPU
Server with 4GB RAM can usually support 25-75 concurrent
sessions. Check here for more
server
scaling details. |
| Q: What if I need to deploy enough servers to support
thousands of concurrent users, and I need it done ASAP? A:
A product like
visionapp Platform Management Suite (vPMS)
or
Login Consultants Solution4 Framework can deploy
hundreds of identical or completely customized terminal servers
is a very short period of time. Alternatively one can
quickly deploy Terminal Servers of Virtualized Desktops on a
Virtual Infrastructure like VMware or Virtual Iron. |
Terminal Server Best Practices
| Do NOT specify a SBS 2003 Server to host
Terminal Server. Terminal Server will NOT install on SBS
2003. |
| Do lock-down your Terminal Servers before installing
software or deploying to a production environment |
| Automate your
installations as much as possible so they are reproducable. |
| Do NOT install Terminal Server on a server that already
holds another role, i.e. File Server, Exchange Server, SQL
Server, and especially not on a Domain Controller |
| Do make image based backups of your terminal servers before
you make any software or hardware changes, so you can revert to
the previous configuration if needed. |
| Do NOT allow ANYONE, for any reason (other than to install
software) to work interactively as an Administrator or Power
User on your Terminal Servers |
| Do NOT install any untested software on a production
Terminal Server. This includes Windows Updates. |
| Do setup a test lab, even if it consists of one terminal
server on workstation-class hardware and one thin-client. |
| Do NOT deploy Terminal Server on the opposite end of a WAN
link from the data users need to access. |
| Budget for an
EMF or PDF based printing program
if clients have unsupported printers or if you have lots of
clients printing over a WAN Connection. EMF and PDF
Based printing programs reduce bandwidth consumption and allow
you to support virtually any client printer (even LIDIL
Printers) |
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