Chapter 20. Leveraging Thin Client Terminal Services


In this Chapter

Advantages of Using Terminal Services

Keeping Users Connected with Session Directory

Adding Redundancy to Session Directory

Optimizing Terminal Service Performance

Managing Terminal Service Users with Group Policy

Keeping Terminal Service Secure

Leveraging Local Resources

BEST PRACTICES

Use Windows Resource Manager

Test This Setting in Each Particular Environment

Long ago the world of computing was a centralized world. Giant mainframes and "dumb terminals" were the norm. Then came the personal computer. The PC revolutionized traditional thinking and put the power into the hands of the end users; decentralization was all the rage throughout the computing world.

Now things are coming full circle. Supporting thousands of individual desktops is a very tedious , complicated, and expensive task. With new versions of software being released constantly, operating system patches, virus definitions, end users who like to "experiment" with their PC, buggy code causing system crashes, and so on, now smaller IT staffs have an almost impossible task of keeping up. One method of combating these problems is to flash back to the past and move again toward centralized computing. You can now take back the power and manage a dozen servers instead of a thousand desktops. Using Microsoft Terminal Services is one way of doing this. In theory you could never have to manage applications on the end user's desktop again. By centralizing the applications and running them via Terminal Services you could significantly reduce the amount of time and money spent on maintaining end user desktops.

Using Terminal Services can also reduce hardware costs for an organization. Any computer capable of running Windows 95 or later is a candidate for being a client machine. Because all the computing is being done server side and the client device need only display a bitmap of what is occurring on the server the client-side hardware requirements are minimal. Alternatively a PC is not even needed. There are many manufacturers like Wyse, Neoware, and others that manufacture what are called Windows-based terminals. These devices have an extremely small footprint and are designed specifically for use in the server-based computing world. With Terminal Server there is now no need to upgrade client hardware to support newer applications. You no longer have to maintain or repair applications on individual desktops or fix individual client operating system problems. If a client manages to corrupt his client OS, you can simply re-image or reload the box with the base operating system and Terminal Services client and the user is back in business in minutes.



Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Insider Solutions
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Insider Solutions
ISBN: 0672326094
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 325

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