The Ultimate Windows Server 1002003 System Administrators Guide [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

TERMINAL SERVICES FROM A USER'S PERSPECTIVE

From a user's perspective, Terminal Services should provide the same rich experience as operating on a local system. If it is properly sized and configured, the user should not realize a noticeable degradation in performance.

Windows Server 2003 provides a number of enhancements that improve user accessibility to resources through a technology called redirection. Redirection must be enabled on both the server and client. Terminal Services Virtual Channel application programming interfaces (APIs) supports the extension of client resource redirection for custom applications. Using Terminal Services Remote Desktop from a Window XP client or other RDP 5.1enabled client, many resources are available in the Remote Desktop connection including:

File System.
The client file system is accessible through the remote desktop as if they were network shared drives.

Parallel and Serial Port Device Support.
Applications have access to the serial and parallel ports on the client, thereby allowing devices like scanners and bar code readers to be used locally and reflected on the server.

Printer.
The default local or network printer on the client is the default printing device for the remote desktop.

Clipboard.
The remote desktop and client computers share a clipboard, therefore assuring greater data interchanged.

The Microsoft implementation of Terminal Services provides application server support on even minimally configured Windows-based personal computers (e.g., old 8086-class machines running Windows 3.1). Using add-on software from third-party vendors, Windows .NET applications can also be displayed and used from UNIX, Apple Macintosh, Java, and MS-DOS platforms. This ability to run applications such as Office 2000/XP using existing hardware equipment, and thus preserve previous hardware investments through the purchase of Terminal Server licenses, can be very attractive.

With Terminal Services, the users of thin clients can immediately run Windows Server 2003 applications while maintaining their current, familiar environment. If the server is properly sized, the response time between a keystroke or mouse click and a displayed result should be transparent to them. This response time is predicated on persistent caching.

A user can roam among thin clients with Terminal Services and not have to log off. Instead, she need only disconnect the session and then, when she returns to the terminal or to another thin-client system, merely log back on to the same session. The user can also maintain multiple concurrent sessions from one or more clients and run several tasks at the same time. Moreover, she can easily cut and paste between terminal sessions. The cut-and-paste facilities are also supported between the local computer and the Terminal Server session.

Finally, printers that are currently operational on the local client can be recognized through Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services.

User Launching

The client software that supports Windows Server 2003 access is newly renamed Remote Desktop Connection. It comes integrated with Windows XP and is available via Start All Programs Accessories Communications. When the client software is installed on earlier versions of Windows, the software will be accessible from Start Programs Accessories Communications.

Although not recommended, earlier versions of the Terminal Services Client software can also access Windows Server 2003. The reliability, stability, and security of the connection, however, are not as robust. Users of Windows 3.11 launch Terminal Services from Control Panel and double-click TSClient. For all other Windows versions, use the Start menu select Programs and select Terminal Services Client.

TERMINAL SERVICES CLIENT

To disconnect the Terminal Services Client without ending the session, press the X on the terminal services identification notation on the top of the screen. You will then receive a warning that confirms that you are terminating the session but the applications on the server will continue to run. The user can then reconnect where he left off. Administrators should discourage users from using this approach unless they intend to return to the session in a relatively short period of time. If applications are left running, server resources will be unnecessarily used.

To end the session, select the Start menu and click Shut Down. From the Shut Down Windows dialog box, select Log Off and confirm with OK.

A number of shortcuts can be used during a Terminal Services session to streamline operations. These are listed in Table 15.1.

NOTETo enhance the user experience, Windows Server 2003 supports Audio Redirection for RDP. This feature enables sound reproduction on a client computer with any application using wave sound. This includes enabling on-the-fly mixing, minimal performance impact of the audio stream I/O, and no user interaction requirement. Note that this feature could place a heavy load on the network.