Terminal Server Guide Contents What is Terminal Server?... 2 How to use Terminal Server... 2 Remote Desktop Connection Client... 2 Logging in... 3 Important Security Information... 4 Logging Out... 4 Closing the Remote Desktop Connection Client... 4 Full Log Off... 5 Further Configuration... 6 Display Tab... 6 Local Resources Tab... 7 Experience Tab... 9 Advanced... 10 Evaluation and Feedback... 10 Other Notes... 10
What is Terminal Server? Windows XP and Vista have a feature called Remote Desktop. This allows you to remotely (over the Internet) connect to your own workstation in the office and see your own desktop and access your own files - just as if you were sat at the computer yourself. There is a limitation however only one person can use the workstation at once. If you are remoting in, nobody can sit at the actual workstation and use it without logging you out first. Terminal Server is a feature of Microsoft Windows Server that gives you the same Remote Desktop function, but instead of remoting to your own workstation it is to a server that multiple people can log in to at the same time each with their own familiar desktop environment. How to use Terminal Server To connect to the Terminal Server and begin using it remotely, you must have a computer, connected to the Internet, to remote from (known as the Client). Note that this guide only covers Windows XP and Vista but there are remote desktop client applications available for Linux and Mac OSX too. Remote Desktop Connection Client The program used to connect to the Terminal Server is called Remote Desktop Connection and is installed on most Windows PCs by default, but the location of it is not always the same. Try the following locations: Start / Programs / Accessories Start / Programs / Accessories / Communications Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools The icon should look like this: After loading, check the version by clicking the icon in the top left corner of the window, and selecting about. This will bring up the About dialog.
If the Shell Version is lower than 6.0.6001 as shown above, or you do not have Remote Desktop Connection installed at all, go to the following website to download it: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6e1ec93d-bdbd-4983-92f7-479e088570ad&displaylang=en (Note that Terminal Server Client is an alternative name, it is the same thing). Logging in Load the Remote Desktop Client and click the Options button to expand the program to its full size and reveal the tabs. To connect to the LBTB Terminal Server, enter internal.lbtbltd.com in the Computer box. The User name is exactly the same as you would use when logging in at the office, preceded by LBTB\. For example: LBTB\jsmith
Now click Connect. After a few moments you will be connected to the Terminal Server and you will see the login prompt. Click on the icon with your username underneath and enter your password in the box, this is the same password you use to login when in the office. Press Enter or click the arrow to continue. You are now presented with your desktop. This is not your own workstation you are using, so you may find some differences the icons may be different, or a program you normally use is it not available. Printers are configured as they are in the office, as are your network shares. Important Security Information To assist logging in, on the General tab there is the option Allow me to save credentials. You will be asked to enter your username and password which are then saved on the local machine. This represents a security risk. If the machine you are using is accessible by people other than yourself, they could log in as you and gain access to all your files, and the files held on the server. We therefore recommend not using this option. A second option, also on the General tab, allows you to save all the current settings for the connection into a file. This is useful when you connect to multiple Terminal Servers and you do not want to keep retyping the computer name every time you connect. However, if you choose to save credentials and then save the connection settings, your password is stored within the file, which is another security risk. We therefore recommend not saving your credentials if you create multiple connection files. Logging Out There are two ways to end the Terminal Server session. Closing the Remote Desktop Connection Client You can simply close the Remote Desktop Connection client. If you do this, your session is saved. You can log back in to the Terminal Server at a later stage and any documents you had open will still be there this is akin to simply walking away from your computer and coming back later.
To close the Remote Desktop Connection Client, move the mouse to the top of the window where a yellow tab will slide down, known as the Connection Bar. Click on the X to close the session. You can log back in at any time and continue from where you left off. Full Log Off If you have finished your work or do not plan to use the Terminal Server for some time, you should log out. This is done in exactly the same way as you log off on your own workstation. The Remote Desktop Client will close automatically. This is akin to finishing for the day and switching off your computer. Note If you have been working on the Terminal Server and then come in to the office to continue, when you log into your own workstation you will not get the documents that were open in the Terminal Server session. You should log out of the Terminal Server, then log in as yourself on your workstation and reopen your documents. While you can be logged in to both at the same time, this should be avoided when practical.
Further Configuration The Remote Desktop Connection client has a number of options which may prove useful to you. They are described by each tab. Display Tab By default, when you connect to the Terminal Server, the Terminal Server session will open full screen. If you do not want this, you can fix the size with the Remote desktop size slider. This is useful if you want to see both the Terminal Server and the local machine desktops together. If your Internet connection is slow, reducing the number of Colours will help make the session more responsive. You can also choose to have the Connection Bar not appear when in full screen mode.
Local Resources Tab The connection between the Terminal Server and the machine you are using to connect to it (the Client) is not just able to display the desktop and control it. There are some things you can share between the two. Remote computer sound allows you to have any sounds that would be played on the Terminal Server be played on the Client machine. The quality is much lower than you would normally have. It is usually better to set this to Do not Play. Keyboard allows you to specify whether the Client or the Terminal Server will respond to certain key combinations. With Local devices and resources it is possible to access some of the devices on the local machine you are working from such as the Clipboard, Hard Disks, Printers and USB devices. If Printers is ticked, then any printers that are configured on the Client machine will be automatically added inside the Terminal Server session, so from within the session you can print to your local printer. Clipboard shares the contents of the clipboard with the Client and Session. Clicking on More gives you further devices you can share
Smart Cards and Serial Ports can be shared, though these are rarely needed. Drives are useful to share. Selecting a Drive here will make it appear in My Computer in the Terminal Server session so you can copy files between the Client and the Session.
Experience Tab The Experience tab contains settings that are for changing the way Terminal Server session looks, these options can improve the responsiveness of the session if your Internet connection is slow. 1. Desktop background switches the desktop background on or off. The Remote Desktop Connection protocol is efficient at large blocks of the same colour, when it has to display a colourful image, such as a desktop background, it takes it longer to display, making the session feel sluggish. It is recommended to leave this off. 2. Font smoothing switches font smoothing on or off. Font Smoothing makes the outline of fonts smooth instead of jagged. This causes the display to take longer to appear. It is recommended to leave this off. 3. Desktop composition uses a small amount of extra memory to improve screen drawing speed. Recommended to be on. 4. Show contents of window while dragging When moving a window, the contents of the window will be shown if this is enabled. Recommended to be off. 5. Menu and window animation Windows animates the opening ofwindows with either a fade or a slide. While it looks nice, it is unnecessary. Recommended to be off. 6. Themes A Theme is the way windows looks. If this is off, windows will use the classic theme. The Terminal Server does not support themes, so this makes no difference. Recommended off. 7. Bitmap caching The Remote Desktop Connection client will attempt to keep copies of pictures it has seen before to speed up the display. Recommended on.
The list box at the top sets some recommended defaults depending on the speed of the connection. Advanced These options should not be changed. Evaluation and Feedback The Terminal Server is a test server running evaluation software. It gives all the features, but it is set to expire in early 2009. We ask that if you use the Terminal Server, note the following: Speed does it feel sluggish to use? Does it take too long for it to draw everything on the screen. Is it merely an annoyance or is it too slow to be usable? You may notice that the speed changes throughout the day and that it is faster in the evening than during the working day. Tip: Try changing options on the Experience tab to improve the sluggish feel. Applications are there any applications that you need which are not there? Ease of use do you find the procedure to log in and out again simple, or is it confusing? When reporting any feedback please let us know the type of Internet connection you are working on Modem, ADSL, Cable, Mobile Internet etc Other Notes Not all the applications you have on your own machine are available on the Terminal Server. Anything that you need can be installed, but graphically intensive application, such as Powerpoint and Photoshop may be frustratingly slow. This is a test server and as such the software is an evaluation only so when you connect you may receive a warning telling you the server is not activated. Do not activate! Simply wait for the countdown the click Activate Later. If you have a Windows Mobile PDA, you can also connect to the Terminal Server with the Terminal Client application.