Terminal Services for Microsoft Windows Server 2003(c) Advanced Technical Design Guide
Authors: Madden B. S.,  Oglesby R.
 Published year: 2006
 Pages: 91-93/126
Buy this book on amazon.com >>

Terminal Services for Microsoft Windows Server 2003

What's interesting about Terminal Server (in this case) is that it's an absolute requirement if you want to use any of these third party products. Your real decision is whether you want to use Terminal Server by itself or whether you want to use a third-party product in addition to Terminal Server.

Terminal Server has come a long way since Microsoft released the first version of it in 1998. From a pure protocol standpoint, Terminal Server's RDP protocol is just as good as Citrix's ICA protocol. They both support virtually any client platform, and they both support access to all local client resources (ports, printers, audio, and the clipboard). Additionally, the new version of RDP supports 24-bit color and very high resolutions .

This protocol equality does not mean that there is no longer a need for third-party products, however. It just means that there are other things you must look for when deciding which products are best for your server-based computing solution.

For example, Terminal Server still has some major weaknesses, including:

  • Load-balancing is limited to 32-nodes. Furthermore, the load-balancing algorithm is based on network traffic--not user or processor load.

  • Applications cannot be accessed "seamlessly." This is not a problem if you only plan to run full remote desktops, but the integration of local and remote applications is not that great.

  • Users must access a server to access an application. For example, third-party software allows a user to request an application by name (i.e. "Excel"). Terminal Server requires that an administrator manually set up shortcuts to each application. Again, this is less of a problem if the server is to be used exclusively for remote desktop access instead of remote application access.

The bottom line with Terminal Server is that it can stand on its own in smaller environments where users will be accessing full remote desktops, but it cries out for third-party tools in larger and more complex environments.



Citrix MetaFrame

Citrix is the company that essentially invented modern day Microsoft Windows server-based computing. MetaFrame XP offers dozens of features, including the all-important application load-balancing, application publishing with seamless windows , and a web interface user portal.

In addition to the core features of MetaFrame, the license fee includes rights to use applications such as "Citrix Secure Gateway" (CSG). CSG lets you funnel all of your users, completely encrypted, through a single port on a single IP address. Think about it. With Citrix, you can provide secure remote access to thousands of remote users over a single IP address/port combination.

While not included with the core product, Citrix also offers a number additional products that further extend MetaFrame's capabilities. Example include MetaFrame Conferencing Manager (a product that enables real-time application sharing and collaboration between users anywhere in the world) and Meta-Frame Secure Access Manager (which provides secure and personalized information via a web portal).

The downside to Citrix is their price. While Citrix MetaFrame clearly offers the most features and capabilities, it is also the most expensive, with per-user MSRP prices starting at almost 0 more than the next most-expensive competitor.



Jetro CockpIT / BoostIT

Jetro Platforms' current server-based computing product is CockpIT 3.0. Jetro does not view themselves as a direct competitor to Citrix, Microsoft, or Tarantella. Instead, they focus on creating a "management platform" that allows you to manage your existing environments whether they're Terminal Servers, Citrix MetaFrame servers, or a combination of both.

Jetro uses its own client software that contacts a Jetro server which maintains application lists, server load, user policies, and permissions. Once it determines which server a user should connect to, the Jetro client passes the connection information to the user's standard RDP or ICA client, and the session is launched.

Jetro sells two products: CockpIT and BoostIT. These products are technically 100% identical, with the only difference being how they are licensed. CockpIT adds all of Jetro's capabilities to Terminal Server and RDP environments. BoostIT supports ICA sessions in addition to RDP. Now, here's where it gets interesting. BoostIT is much cheaper than CockpIT. That's right. The product that supports RDP and ICA is much cheaper ( per user) than the product that supports RDP only (0 per user). Jetro's reasoning behind this is that if you need the ICA version, you've already spent enough money on thin client computing licenses, so they give you a break. (Think of it as a "competitive upgrade.") The catch, of course, is that you have to have previously bought a Citrix ICA license for each BoostIT license that you buy, and they require proof of this upon ordering.

Jetro adds some impressive features onto native Terminal Server. In addition to the now "standard" third-party offerings of seamless windows , application publishing, a slick web interface for application access, and application level load-balancing, Jetro's products also allow you to seamlessly publish and manage applications to users regardless of whether they access them via ICA or RDP.


Terminal Services for Microsoft Windows Server 2003(c) Advanced Technical Design Guide
Authors: Madden B. S.,  Oglesby R.
 Published year: 2006
 Pages: 91-93/126
Buy this book on amazon.com >>

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