What Are MetaFrame User Policies?

What Are MetaFrame User Policies?

MetaFrame user policies allow an administrator to apply certain MetaFrame server settings to users based on their connection criteria. Hence, they can tailor the computing experience differently for different users.

For example, through MetaFrame user policies, you can enforce bandwidth caps on a user's client session when connecting from a client device located across a low-bandwidth WAN link. Alternatively, you might enable client drive mapping for only those users who belong to a special domain security group .

MetaFrame user policies are managed through the Policies object located in the Management Console for MetaFrame Presentation Server 3.0, as shown in Figure 7.1.

Figure 7.1. MetaFrame user policies are managed through the Management Console for MPS.

MetaFrame user policies have the following characteristics:

• Multiple policies can be defined in a server farm. You can see multiple policies listed in Figure 7.1. A policy can be in one of two modes. It is either enabled, in which case it is applied to all connections that meet the membership criteria, or the policy is disabled, in which case it is ignored by MetaFrame.

• Each policy can have one or more rules defined within it. When a policy is applied to a user who is connecting to a MetaFrame server, all defined rules within that policy are applied.

• When more than one policy is applied to a connecting user, the order in which the rules are applied is based on the priority assigned to the policies. In general, a higher-priority policy overrides settings defined in a lower-priority policy. Details on policy priority are discussed in the next section, while available policy rules are reviewed in the "Available MetaFrame Policy Rules" section of this chapter.

• Each rule within a policy can be in one of three states, as shown in Figure 7.2:

  • Not Configured This rule is ignored by the connecting user. If a lower-priority policy has this rule assigned a different state, the lower-priority rule is used.

  • Disabled The specific rule is disabled. This setting overrides any instance of the rule that has been enabled in lower-priority policies.

  • Enabled When enabled, the properties for the rule are applied to the connecting user. In Figure 7.2, the Configuration rule for Shadowing is enabled. This means that when this policy is applied to a user, it is not possible for someone else to shadow him or her without the user first being notified.

  Figure 7.2. A rule within a policy can be enabled, disabled, or not configured.

  

  Alert

  Make sure you know the three states for a policy rule and how they affect rules in both higher- and lower-priority policies.

  
  

• Policy assignment is dictated by filters (also known as memberships), which are any combination of one or more of client IP address (specific IP address or range), MPS client name, MPS server name , or individual username or group membership. During logon, MetaFrame determines all policies that should be applied to a given user based on this filter criteria. The applicable policies are then sorted in priority order and the defined rules are applied. Policy assignment is discussed in the "Policy Filtering and Assignment" section of this chapter.