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WestNet Provides Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services
Installation
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Windows Terminal Services Planning and Deployment Services |
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Terminal Services (TS), one of the core
virtualization technologies available in Windows Server 2008,
makes it possible to run an application in one location but have
it be controlled in another—presentation virtualization. With
Terminal Services presentation virtualization, you can install
and manage applications on centralized servers in the data
center; screen images are delivered to the users, and the users'
client machines, in turn, send keystrokes and mouse movements
back to the server. When using Terminal Services, administrators
can present users with the individual applications and data they
require to complete their task, or the whole remote desktop.
From a user perspective, these applications are integrated
seamlessly—looking, feeling, and behaving like local
applications.
Terminal Services Improvements in Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 features major upgrades to Terminal
Services. Terminal Services now supports Remote Desktop Protocol
6.0. The most notable improvement is the ability to share a
single application over a Remote Desktop connection, instead of
the entire desktop. This feature is called Terminal Services
RemoteApp. Other features new to Terminal Services include
Terminal Services Gateway and Terminal Services Web Access (full
web interface). With Terminal Services Gateway, authorized
computers are able to connect securely to a Terminal Server or
Remote Desktop from the Internet using RDP via HTTPS without
implementing a VPN session first. Additional ports do not need
to be opened in the firewall; RDP is tunneled through HTTPS.
Terminal Services Web Access enables administrators to provide
access to the Terminal Services Sessions via a Web interface. TS
Web Access comes with an adjustable Webpart for IIS and
Sharepoint, which advertises the possible applications and
connections to the user. Using TS Gateway and TS RemoteApp, the
whole communication is via HTTP(S) and the remote applications
appear transparent to the user as if they are running locally.
Multiple applications run in the same session to ensure that
there is no need for additional licenses per user. Terminal
Services Easy Print does not require administrators to install
any printer drivers on the server, but guarantees successful
client printer redirection and availability of all printer UI
and properties for use in remote sessions. Terminal Services
sessions are created in parallel, instead of a serial operation
- the new session model can initiate at least four sessions in
parallel, or more if a server has more than four processors.
Terminal Service Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How does Terminal Services work?
A. Terminal Services enables applications to run in one location
(a server in the data center) and be viewed and controlled in
another (a PC). Terminal Services simply sends screen images to
the users, and the users' machines in turn send keystrokes and
mouse movements back to the server. By doing this, Terminal
Services allows clients to run applications that they might
otherwise not have the hardware or bandwidth to support.
Q. What are the benefits of using Terminal Services?
A. The benefits of using Terminal Services include:
Terminal Services accelerates and extends deployment of
applications to a wide array of client devices, making your
organization more agile and responsive.
Terminal Services helps improve remote worker efficiency,
enabling rich applications to be accessed from a Web page and
seamlessly integrated with a local desktop.
Terminal Services helps organizations keep critical intellectual
property secure and helps simplify regulatory compliance by
removing applications and data from the desktop.
Q. What are the key features of Terminal Services?
A. The key features of Terminal Services include:
Terminal Services RemoteApp (TS RemoteApp). With TS RemoteApp,
applications appear no different than local applications, and
tightly integrate with the task bar and with new Windows Vista
features, like Flip 3D. TS RemoteApp helps improve end-user
productivity and reduce training requirements.
Terminal Services Gateway connects applications and data to
users outside the firewall, and provides simple and highly
secure delivery of critical applications and data to mobile
employees without a VPN.
Terminal Services Web Access simplifies application deployment
by making applications available from a Web page or a
SharePoint® portal without installing them on the local PC.
Speed application deployment by quickly connecting users with
the applications they need.
Terminal Services Session Broker (TS Session Broker) delivers
session-based load-balancing to a TS farm. TS Session Broker
helps bring better uptime and performance to your TS
environment.
Terminal Services Easy Print leverages the client-side print
driver (no server-side driver needed) to enable fast and
reliable printing to a local or network-attached printer. End
users can more productively work from remote locations.
Q. Why upgrade to Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services?
A. For organizations that are running Windows Server 2003
Terminal Services, there are many reasons to upgrade to the new
version. They include:
Simplified printing: Seamless printing, regardless of location,
with full printer functionality.
Increased availability for users: The workload of users is
balanced and shared equally across servers, even in the
situation of servers becoming unavailable.
Greater protection against security threats: Core code has been
re-factored, reducing the attack surface by almost two-thirds at
the higher system privilege level. Network Level Authentication
helps protect against possible man-in-the-middle or Denial of
Service attacks.
Reduced application complexity: Applications can be made
available from a centralized Web page, rather than installed on
each PC.
Space to expand with multi-monitor spanning: More and more
people are using multiple monitors. Sessions can be spanned
across multiple monitors with resolutions up to 4024x2019 with
support for both Remote Desktop and TS RemoteApp.
Connect more devices: Expanded support beyond flash drives and
external hard drives and printers to include digital cameras and
digital music players, right out of the box.
Improved productivity and reduced training costs: Through
seamless integration with the desktop environment, network
applications appear no different to the users than local
applications.
Q. Who can benefit from Terminal Services?
A. Any organization can benefit from Terminal Services.
Providing access to the application via Terminal Services can
speed up application deployment. The same is true of
organizations that are not able or willing to rewrite
applications for delivery via a Web browser. Terminal Services
allows them to “Web-enable” existing applications for remote
employees, partners, and customers. If the organization is
supporting remote offices or home workers, Terminal Services can
help reduce remote deployment costs, IT support, and
infrastructure requirements.
Q. Can older applications run on Terminal Services?
A. Generally, any application that works on Windows 2000
Terminal Services or Windows Server 2003 is very likely to run
on Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services. Any applications that
are certified for Windows Server 2008, Windows XP Professional,
and Windows Vista should work on Terminal Services without
modification.
Q. When would an organization want to choose Terminal
Services architecture?
A. Terminal Services can be an excellent choice if the
organization is facing the following challenges: a need to
better manage applications and data; a need to address
regulatory compliance; a need to provide access to remote users;
a need to simplify branch deployments; or a need to simplify
application or desktop deployment. Terminal Services can be used
for the deployment of specific applications or an entire
desktop. A Terminal Services solution can be particularly
valuable when the customer wants a mature, proven technology
that has a long track record of successful deployments and is
looking for application or desktop deployment agility.
Q. What about other ISV solutions for Terminal Services?
A. Many independent software vendors create solutions for the
Terminal Services platform. A list of those solutions and
details about how they can add value to your TS environment can
be found here.
Q. What are the most common scenarios for using Terminal
Services?
A. Common scenarios for using Terminal Services include:
Remote workers: Organizations today often have employees that
are mobile, or that work from home or other non-networked
locations. Terminal Services can enable employee productivity
from virtually any location and can increase effective user
collaboration without compromising security features.
Specifically, if users have non-controlled devices or low
bandwidth connections, Terminal Services can offer highly secure
access to applications via low-bandwidth connections, without
requiring new applications to be distributed to every client.
Branch offices: Where an environment includes branch offices,
Terminal Services can provide enhanced capabilities to reduce
the network bandwidth used by client/server applications. For
example, a bank might have essential financial software
applications that would not be cost-effective to deploy and
maintain in every branch. Terminal Services can allow the
software to be run from a central headquarters and accessed as
needed by employees in different locations. Users can run both
local and remote applications on the same client machine.
Difficult-to-manage applications: Terminal Services gives
organizations the flexibility to deploy applications based on
convenience, cost, and scalability factors rather than only user
need. For example, when considering deployment of complex
applications, such as the ERP or CRM clients, or customized
in-house software, Terminal Services can reduce the instances of
applications needed, as it removes the requirement to distribute
every application to every client.
Task workers: Structured task workers, such as those at call
centers and retail branches, often don’t need to access many
applications to complete business processes. Often there are
varying types of clients, such as legacy desktops or non-PC
desktops, or even some of today’s lightweight or portable
devices. Terminal Services can often provide a better user
experience than installing the application on the machine
itself. This type of deployment can extend the reach of Windows
applications within the enterprise. It is also valuable as a way
to offer access to applications that the user might need only
infrequently.
Q. Why use Terminal Services instead of locally
deploying applications?
A. Businesses use Terminal Services instead of locally deploying
applications to cover a variety of situations, including:
Infrequently used applications: If users only access an
application once in a while, it makes sense to run it remotely
on a server rather than installing it locally on every device.
Frequently updated applications: Rather than continually
updating or installing the application on every device,
organizations can be much more productive by deploying
applications on servers and giving all users immediate access to
applications.
Low-bandwidth access: The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) has been
designed and optimized to give users a good application
experience over low-bandwidth connections. Because only
keyboard, mouse, and screen drawing information is sent over the
network, a quality user experience can be attained under very
low-bandwidth conditions.
PC-unfriendly areas: Terminal Services can be a great choice for
areas in which customers would not want to locate a PC—such as
shop floors or in public areas—for security or environmental
reasons. In these environments, thin clients are good choices
and, with Terminal Services, these devices can be used without
compromising security.
Applications in transition: When an application is being updated
or enhanced, it can be too much overhead to continually deploy
on each user’s device or computer. Terminal Services can provide
a way for users to access the most up-to-date software at all
times.
External business partners and users: Terminal Services can be a
great way to give external business partners and customers
access to applications and data without having to install and
control the device that they access the applications from. Since
it is usually impossible to manage or control devices that a
company does not own, it is usually very difficult to allow
business partners and customers to access some applications.
Q. How does Windows Vista Enterprise Centralized Desktop
(VECD) relate to Terminal Services in Windows Server?
A. Terminal Services is a mature and highly scalable technology
for centralizing desktops and applications; applications can be
seamlessly integrated with the user local desktop. The highly
secure session isolation in Terminal Services requires that
users run 'as user' and share a single operating system. This
enables a high number of users per server for lower costs, and
reduces the ongoing patching and maintenance tasks of individual
operating system instances per user. Terminal Services has been
deployed to over 30 million desktops worldwide for almost any
user type—knowledge, administrative, mobile, or branch
employees.
In comparison, VECD uses virtual machine isolation to isolate
each user, which gives additional separation that can be used to
give each user their operating system instance. This enables
maximum control for the user—they can be administrator of their
VM without affecting other users. VECD has the same application
compatibility and ISV support as Windows Vista. VECD is
excellent for users that require administrative rights to the
system, such as developers or testers, or power users, such as
financial traders that require dedicated hardware resources.
Q. How can I purchase the new Terminal Services?
A. Terminal Services functionality is a role of the following
Windows Server products: Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows
Server 2008 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter.
Terminal Services Client Access Licenses are required for users
to connect and use the Terminal Services functionality. Remote
Desktop for Administration is available on all of the products
above, plus Windows Web Server 2008, without Client Access
Licenses.
WestNet Consulting Services, Inc - (818) 288-8282
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