Secret Server 2008: Terminal Services Enhancement

In today's ubiquitous era of networks, traditional media single-machine products have become increasingly unable to meet people's needs, and more software vendors have realized the convenience and challenges that the network brings to them. Take Microsoft as an example. Whether it is network patch distribution or network-based genuine value-added programs, Microsoft's use of the network is reflected. For enterprise users, this is mainly reflected in the terminal services.

Terminal Services in Windows Server can improve the software deployment capabilities of enterprises in a variety of application scenarios and allow for more flexibility in the application and management infrastructure. When a user runs an application on a terminal server, the application is actually executed on the server side, so only the keyboard, mouse, and display information need to be transmitted over the network. Each user can only see his own session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system and is independent of any other client session. Terminal Services provides the ability to host multiple concurrent client sessions on Windows Server. Standard Windows-based applications run on the terminal server without any modifications, and all standard Windows Server management infrastructure and technologies can be used to manage the client desktop system. In this way, organizations can choose from the rich set of applications and tools available in today's Windows operating system environment.

In the face of such close application, Microsoft will continue to enhance it. In this year's upcoming Longhorn Server, the performance improvement of the terminal server is very gratifying. Users can decide which programs can be accessed remotely. At the same time, users can use Citrix's programs through new remote programs and Terminal Services Gateways. Users can also access the program, configure the program, virtualize and implement secure access at any time. Let's take a look at the charm of Microsoft Terminal Services one by one:

Terminal Services gateway

A major improvement in Terminal Services in Longhorn Server is Terminal Services Gateway (Terminal Services) Gateway), through this feature, users can access Terminal Services programs through a portal on the Internet around the world. All processing is done through a securely encrypted HTTPS channel. If you are familiar with Exchange Server or ISA Server, you will find that this feature is very similar to that used by Outlook 2003 to access a mail server via a virtual private network (VPN). RPC-over-HTTP functionality.

The Terminal Services Gateway can correctly complete network address translation through the firewall. In addition, because the data is transmitted through HTTPS, a protocol that almost everyone uses, this avoids The problem of the inability to penetrate the firewall when using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) for transmission, because the 3389 port used by the Desktop Protocol (RDP) is often blocked on the firewall.

Administrators set different authorization policies for different user groups, so that you can control the permissions of different users to connect to Terminal Services through the gateway machine. With this function, we no longer need to be a user on each Internet. Open the largest software installation permissions.

If terminal services provide the possibility for distributed office work, then the Terminal Services Gateway (Terminal Services Gateway) really makes the software deployed by the enterprise flexible and controllable.

With the support of tools, Terminal Services is no exception. With the support of Terminal Services technology, Remote Desktop for Administration is designed for server management. Remote Desktop for Administration greatly reduces the workload of remote management because it does not have the application sharing and multi-user capabilities of a full Terminal Server component, nor does it have process scheduling capabilities. Therefore, Remote Desktop for Administration can be used on already very busy servers without significantly impacting server performance and CPU utilization, making it a convenient and efficient service for remote management.

Remote Desktop for Administration can be used to remotely manage Windows servers. This mode is designed to provide operators and administrators with remote access to typical back-end servers and domain controllers. Administrators have access to a graphical user interface tool that runs in a Windows environment, even if he doesn't use a Windows-based computer to manage the server. Administrators can use the Terminal Services client software to securely manage Windows Server-based computers from any device and through any network connection. Tasks that administrators can perform include: directory maintenance, virus scanning, backups, reboots, and even upgrading the server to a domain controller, all at a remote location.

In fact, in the Windows Server 2003 version, the management console of Terminal Services is already very powerful, but the management of Terminal Services still has some unsatisfactory places in Windows Server 2003. If you have used Windows Server 2003-based terminal services, you will find that there are too many management control interfaces that need to be understood and operated. In Longhorn Server, this problem is solved very well. Users only need to pass a single The management console can do all the configuration and management work.

Terminal Services Remote Programs

The biggest advantage of Terminal Services is centralized management. By using Terminal Services, organizations can ensure that all clients use the latest version of the application because the software only needs to be installed once on the server machine, not on all desktop computers in the enterprise. This mode reduces the cost and difficulty of updating desktop computers, especially those in remotely located computers or branch office environments. Organizations can deliver Windows-based applications to a variety of desktop environments using Terminal Server mode over local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and dial-up connections. This is a cost-effective deployment for business applications that are frequently updated, difficult to install, or require access through low-bandwidth connections.

Terminal Services is not only suitable for a variety of desktop platforms, but also allows users to access the latest applications using older, outdated devices, helping companies to gradually replace older devices. In this regard, we are more dependent on some third-party add-on products, such as Citrix MetaFrame. If you are very familiar with Citrix MetaFrame products, then you will be able to appreciate the experience it brings to you. In the new Longhorn Server, you can start to support these functions. In Longhorn Server, users can directly run applications on the terminal server. And allowing the application to be integrated into a copy of the local Windows, the user will see a separate taskbar button, an application window area, and a more functional Alt-Tab switch.

These features are completely seamless and transparent to the user. In theory, users don't know where their programs reside, unless they are accidentally degraded or run due to network or server overload. Slowly, the user will find that the program does not appear to be stored locally. Simply put, the Terminal Services Remote Program is a way to deploy a single application by replacing the original full operating system session environment with RDP. This change simplifies the load, simplifies configuration management, and simplifies administrator stress.

Using Remote Desktop Web Connection

Remote Desktop Web Connection is an ActiveX control that has exactly the same functionality as the executable version of the Remote Desktop connection, but It provides these features over the web and does not require an executable version to be installed on the client machine. When hosted in a web page, the ActiveX client control allows users to log in to the terminal server through an Internet or intranet connection using the TCP/IP protocol and view the Windows desktop inside Internet Explorer.

Remote Desktop Web Connection is an easy way to provide Terminal Server functionality through a URL. At the same time, this service is also very intelligent. No matter how many programs are loaded as long as they are initiated by the same user, only one session will be saved in the terminal service, which makes the resource management on the server side more convenient, and the enterprise can also access the network. Consolidate to a SharePoint site so that users can access multiple programs through the enterprise's collaboration platform.

In addition, there are other innovations in Terminal Services in Longhorn Server, such as more powerful team collaboration features, including single sign-on (SSO) terminal sessions, session monitoring, and integration. Windows System Resource Manager, these improvements can better monitor system performance and resource usage, resulting in tighter integration of Terminal Services and users.

Of course, new changes are always coming out. Microsoft is planning to introduce a new version of the RDP client, version 6-, to integrate all the new features. In addition, the new RDP client version will be Support for more accurate bandwidth usage, which makes RDP communication more unobstructed.

Imagine that in the future, we no longer need to buy any software products or even operating systems. All we need to do is open the computer and connect to the network, and then choose the environment we need to start working or entertaining. Of course, all of this depends on the software vendor's sales strategy and the improvement of the authorization method. However, from a technical point of view, this day is no longer far away from us, at least in the large enterprise internal terminal service application in the future. It will be more and more extensive.