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Terminal Services Features
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Posted: Thursday, October 28, 1999
The Terminal Services component of the Windows® 2000 Server operating system delivers the Windows 2000 Professional desktop and the latest Windows-based applications to a wide variety of desktops, including those that normally would not be able to run Windows. Through terminal emulation, Terminal Services allows the same set of applications to run on diverse types of desktop hardware. For organizations wanting to more flexibly deploy applications and control desktop management costs, a Terminal Services architecture offers an important enhancement to the traditional two or three tier client-server architecture based on servers and full scale personal computers.
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Terminal Services extends the model of distributed computing by allowing PCs to operate in a server-based computing environment. With Terminal Services running on a Windows 2000-based server, all client application execution, data processing, and data storage occur on the server. Applications and user desktops are transmitted over the network and displayed via terminal emulation software. Similarly, print streams, keyboard input, and mouse clicks are also transmitted over the network between the server and the terminal emulation software. Each user logs on and sees only their individual session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system and is independent of any other client session.
Bridging Technology, Application Deployment, Remote Administration |
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Terminal Services client software is
available for different client hardware
devices, including PCs, Windows-based terminals, and even non-Windows-based devices such as a Macintosh or
UNIX workstation. (Non-Windows-based platforms require additional third party
software such as Citrix MetaFrame.) By letting users access a Windows 2000
desktop running on Windows 2000 Server, Terminal Services provides a
bridging technology for customers moving to a Windows 2000 Professional
Desktop environment. Frequently updated or hard to install
line-of-business applications can be installed centrally on a Windows 2000
Server, and the Terminal Services client software can be used to access
just the application, rather than the entire desktop. This is useful for
any desktop, including the latest operating systems such as Windows 2000
Professional, especially when it is desirable, for performance reasons, to
locate the application execution logic as close as possible to the backend
data. Terminal Services also has a separate remote administration mode
that can be used to remotely administer any Windows 2000-based server,
including domain controllers, member servers and BackOffice®.
Terminal Services Architecture
Terminal Services extends the model of
distributed computing by allowing PCs to operate as both thin and
fat clients simultaneously. At the hardware level, a thin client is
a device that relies on a server for applications and data, and
performs little or no application processing. Thus a thin client
(often called a terminal) requires relatively small amounts of RAM
and local disk storage capacity. A typical PC (also called a
fat-client) usually has more RAM and a larger disk drive so it can
handle all of an application's code and data locally.
Centralizes Computing Resources
Terminal Services allows centralized management of some or all computing resources for each client connected to the server and provides each user with their own working environment. Additional Terminal Services advantages include:
 | Bringing Windows 2000 to desktops
faster. Terminal Services acts as a convenient bridging tool for earlier desktops migrating to Windows 2000 Professional. It allows the Windows 2000 desktop experience to be delivered "virtually" to non-PC desktops and PCs that need hardware upgrades before they can run a full Windows 2000 operating system locally. Terminal Services clients are available for many different desktop platforms including MS-DOS®, Windows-based PCs, Macintosh, UNIX and others. (Connectivity to MS-DOS, Macintosh, and UNIX-based machines requires a third party add-on such as Citrix MetaFrame).
| Centralized deployment of applications.
Terminal Services provides centralized deployment and management of 32-bit Windows-based applications to Windows-based terminals, remote users, or local PC desktops. Terminal Services ensures that all clients can access current versions of an application because the software is installed once on a server, rather than every desktop throughout the company. This model reduces the costs and challenge of updating desktop machines, especially for remotely located desktops or branch office environments. In addition, Terminal Services features such as 'Remote Control' can simplify application support.
| Remote administration.
Terminal Services provides remote administration for the
Windows 2000 Server family. This gives system administrators a powerful
method of remotely administering each member of the Windows 2000 Server
family from any client device over a LAN, WAN, or dial-up connection. |
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Feature |
Description |
Automated Local Printer Support
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Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services can
add and automatically reconnect printers attached to Terminal
Services clients.
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Clipboard Redirection
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This feature lets users cut and paste
between applications running on the local machine and those running
on the Terminal Server.
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Performance Enhancements
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Many improvements to caching, including
persistent caching, packet utilization, frame size, and other
enhancements, now provide significant performance improvements in
Terminal Services.
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Roaming Disconnect Support
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This feature lets users disconnect from a
session without logging off. Users can let a session remain active
while disconnected and then reconnect to the existing session from
another machine or at a later time. The Windows 2000 Server security
model requires logon to reconnect, so sessions remain secure at all
times.
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Multiple Logon Support
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This feature lets a user have multiple
simultaneous logon sessions from one or more desktops. Users can log
on to multiple computers running Windows 2000 Server using the same
logon name, or they can log on to a single server multiple times
(again using the same logon name) to do several tasks or run
multiple unique desktop sessions.
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Feature |
Description |
Remote Administration mode
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Remote administration
mode allows Terminal Services to be enabled on any computer running Windows 2000 Server for graphical remote administration. Enabling this mode leaves server performance and application compatibility unaffected and allows up to two concurrent remote sessions.
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Remote Control
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This feature lets helpdesk staff view or
control another Terminal Services session. Keyboard input, mouse
movements, and display graphics are shared between two Terminal
Services sessions, giving the support person the ability to diagnose
and resolve configuration problems, as well as train the user
remotely. This feature is especially useful for organizations with
branch offices.
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Integration with Windows 2000 Server
Features
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Terminal Services supports and
extends all Windows 2000 Server features, such as Active DirectoryTM services and the Microsoft
Management Console.
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Network Load Balancing
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Network load balancing, available in Windows
2000 Advanced Server and Datacenter Server, lets Terminal Services
clients connect to a pool of servers running Terminal Services,
eliminating a single point of failure.
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Windows-based
Terminals Based on Windows CE
and Embedded NT 4.0
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Based
on custom implementations of the Windows
CE and Embedded NT operating systems and the Remote Desktop
Protocol (RDP), Windows-based terminals are now available from major
terminal partners (such as Wyse Technology, Network Computing
Devices, Boundless Corporation, and Neoware Systems). Windows 2000
Server enhances these devices to include such features as remote
control and local printing.
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Client Connection Manager
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This tool lets administrators and end users
set up pre-defined connections to one or several different servers
for a single application or full desktop access. Client Connection
Manager creates an icon on the client desktop for single-click
connectivity to one or more computers running Terminal Services.
This way, administrators who want to provide a single
line-of-business application across the computing environment can
create a connection, export it, and distribute that connection along
with the Terminal Services Client software to the PC desktops (for
example, Win32®
- and Win16-based systems). The connection is
automatically made available when the client software is installed.
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License Manager
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The Terminal Services License Manager helps
system administrators and purchasing offices track the clients and
associated licenses connecting to the Terminal Services.
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Distributed File System (Dfs) Support
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Support for Dfs lets users connect to a Dfs
share and allows administrators to host Dfs shares from a Terminal
Server.
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System Policies Components Allow Desktop
Lockdown
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Terminal Services-based clients have
additional components on the Windows desktop and Start menu:
Disconnect, Logoff, and Windows 2000 Server Security. Administrators
can disable these components in cases where this level of
flexibility isn't needed.
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Terminal Services Manager
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Administrators can use the Terminal Services
Manager tool to query and manage Terminal Services sessions, users,
and processes on computers running Windows 2000.
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Terminal Services
Configuration
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Terminal Services Configuration is used to
manage connection protocol settings and server settings, including
permissions, encryption strength, and the licensing mode.
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Integration with Windows 2000 Server User
Management
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Administrators create user accounts for
Terminal Services users in the same way they create accounts for
Windows 2000 Server users. This lets existing PC users access their
accounts from terminal and terminal emulation desktops. Extra fields
exist for specifying Terminal Services specific information, such as
the Terminal Services Profile Path and Home Directory.
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Integration with Windows 2000 Server Performance
Monitor
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Integration with Windows 2000 Server
Performance Monitor allows system administrators to easily monitor
Terminal Services system performance, including tracking processor
use, memory allocation, and paged memory usage and swapping per user
session.
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Messaging Support
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Administrators can alert users to system
shutdowns and upgrades or to new application postings.
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Configurable Inactivity Timeout
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Administrators can configure when to time
out sessions due to inactivity, reducing server workload.
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Feature |
Description |
RDP Encryption
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The built-in RDP encryption feature lets administrators
encrypt all or some of the RDP data transmitted
between the Windows 2000 Server and Terminal Services Clients (including
all Windows-based Terminals) at three different levels (low, medium, or
high), depending on security needs. The default encryption level
is medium, which provides bi-directional encryption between the
server and the client using RSA Security's RC4
encryption algorithm, using a 56-bit key (or a 40-bit
key, if using a Terminal Server 4.0 client). Terminal Services also
supports 128-bit bi-directional encryption, which is available if you install the Windows
2000 High Encryption Pack.
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Limit Logon Attempts and Connection Time
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Administrators can limit the number of user
logon attempts to prevent hackers from attacking a server, as well
as the connection time of any individual user or groups of users.
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Manage User Security
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Administrators can set up security
restrictions for individual users or an entire server. This includes
limiting the ability to redirect to local devices.
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Terminal Services Technical Resources
Windows 2000 Terminal Services: An Integrated, Server-Based Computing Solution
Communications and Networking Services Technical Resources
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Last Updated: Tuesday, April 25, 2000
© 2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
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