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Terminal Services Overview
What is Terminal Services?
The Terminal Services server role in Windows Server® 2008 provides technologies that enable users to access Windows-based programs that are installed on a terminal server, or to access the full Windows desktop. With Terminal Services, users can access a terminal server from within a corporate network or from the Internet.
Terminal Services lets you efficiently deploy and maintain software in an enterprise environment. You can easily deploy programs from a central location. Because you install the programs on the terminal server and not on the client computer, programs are easier to upgrade and to maintain.
When a user accesses a program on a terminal server, the program execution occurs on the server. Only keyboard, mouse, and display information is transmitted over the network. Each user sees only their individual session. The session is managed transparently by the server operating system and is independent of any other client session.
For more information about Terminal Services, see the Terminal Services page on the Windows Server 2008 TechCenter (http://go.microsoftfwlink/?LinkId=48555).
Why use Terminal Services?
If you deploy a program on a terminal server instead of on each device, there are many benefits. These include the following:
• You can quickly deploy Windows-based programs to computing devices across an enterprise. Terminal Services is especially useful when you have programs that are frequently updated, infrequently used, or difficult to manage.
• Terminal Services can significantly reduce the network bandwidth that is required to access remote applications.
• Terminal Services helps user productivity. Users can access programs that are running on a terminal server from devices such as home computers, kiosks, low-powered hardware, and operating systems other than Windows.
• Terminal Services provides better program performance for branch office workers who need access to centralized data stores. Data-intensive programs sometimes do not have client/server protocols that are optimized for low-speed connections. Programs of this kind frequently perform better over a Terminal Services connection than over a typical wide area network.
Terminal Services role services
Terminal Services is a server role that consists of several sub-components, known as "role services." In Windows Server 2008, Terminal Services consists of the following role services:
• Terminal Server: The Terminal Server role service enables a server to host Windows-based programs or the full Windows desktop. Users can connect to a terminal server to run programs, to save files, and to use network resources on that server.
• TS Web Access: Terminal Services Web Access (TS Web Access) enables users to access RemoteApp™ programs and a Remote Desktop connection to the terminal server through a Web site. TS Web Access also includes Remote Desktop Web Connection, which enables users to remotely connect to any computer where they have Remote Desktop access.
• TS Licensing: Terminal Services Licensing (TS Licensing) manages the Terminal Services client access licenses (TS CALs) that are required for each device or user to connect to a terminal server. You use TS Licensing to install, issue, and monitor the availability of TS CALs on a Terminal Services license server.
• TS Gateway: Terminal Services Gateway (TS Gateway) enables authorized remote users to connect to resources on an internal corporate network, from any Internet-connected device that can run the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client.
• TS Session Broker: Terminal Services Session Broker (TS Session Broker) supports session load balancing between terminal servers in a farm, and reconnection to an existing session in a load-balanced terminal server farm.
What is a terminal server?
A terminal server is the server that hosts Windows-based programs or the full Windows desktop for Terminal Services clients. Users can connect to a terminal server to run programs, to save files, and to use network resources on that server. Users can access a terminal server by using RDC or by using RemoteApp programs.
For more information about deploying terminal servers, see "Checklist: Terminal Server Installation Prerequisites" in the Terminal Server Help in the Windows Server 2008 Technical Library (http://go.microsoftfwlink/?linkid=101636).
Terminal Services RemoteApp (TS RemoteApp)
RemoteApp programs are programs that are accessed remotely through Terminal Services and behave as if they are running on the end user's local computer. Users can run RemoteApp programs side-by-side with their local programs. If a user is running more than one RemoteApp program from the same terminal server, the RemoteApp programs will share the same Terminal Services session. This functionality conserves user sessions, and enables faster connection to each additional RemoteApp program that is located on the same server.
By using TS RemoteApp Manager, you can create Windows Installer packages (.msi packages) or .rdp files and then distribute the packages throughout your organization. Or, if you want users to access RemoteApp programs over the Web, you can deploy RemoteApp programs to a Web site by using TS Web Access.
Why use TS RemoteApp?
TS RemoteApp can reduce complexity and reduce administrative overhead in many situations, including the following:
• Branch offices, where there may be limited local IT support and limited network bandwidth.
• Situations where users have to access applications remotely.
• Deployment of line-of-business (LOB) applications, especially custom LOB applications.
• Environments, such as "hot desk" or "hoteling" workspaces, where users do not have assigned computers.
• Deployment of multiple versions of an application, especially if installing multiple versions locally would cause conflicts.
For more information about TS RemoteApp, see the TS RemoteApp Step-by-Step Guide (http://go.microsoftfwlink/?LinkId=84895).
What is TS Web Access?
TS Web Access lets you make RemoteApp programs and a Remote Desktop connection to the terminal server available to users from a Web browser. With TS Web Access, users can visit a Web site (either from the Internet or from an intranet) to access a list of available RemoteApp programs. When they start a RemoteApp program, a Terminal Services session is started on the terminal server that hosts the RemoteApp program. When you deploy TS Web Access, you can specify which terminal server to use as the data source to populate the list of RemoteApp programs that appears on the Web page.
The Remote Desktop Web Connection feature is also included with TS Web Access. With Remote Desktop Web Connection, a user can specify which computer they want to connect to, and then start a full Remote Desktop session to that computer. To successfully connect, the user must have Remote Desktop access on the destination computer.
For more information about TS Web Access, see the TS RemoteApp Step-by-Step Guide (http://go.microsoftfwlink/?LinkId=84895).
What is TS Licensing?
TS Licensing manages the TS CALs that are required for each user or device to connect to a terminal server. You use TS Licensing to install, issue, and monitor the availability of TS CALs on a Terminal Services license server.
To use Terminal Services, you must have at least one license server. For small deployments, you can install both the Terminal Server role service and the TS Licensing role service on the same computer. For larger deployments, we recommend that the TS Licensing role service be installed on a separate computer from the Terminal Server role service.
You must configure TS Licensing correctly for your terminal server to continue to accept connections from clients.