Pros: Affords access to remote servers; WinXP Pro users can get a free CAL.
Cons: New licensing scheme might leave many organizations smarting.
The bottom line: If you or your enterprise require a fast full featured application that will afford you full access to remote computers, look not further then Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services.
Disclaimer: This review is intended for those with intermediate or advanced server knowledge, or those individuals seeking in-depth information on Enterprise caliber server equipment. Few if any of the terms used throughout the review are expounded upon.

I am the manager (Network Administrator) of a medium-sized server farm at a government agency, which consists of some 25 Dell PowerEdge servers of various models and designs. Those models include 6600’s 6400’s, 6450’s 2500’s & 2600’s, running Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition. And my server farm continues to grow!

It is far easier for me to administer my servers from one central location, rather than “touch” each one every time I want to perform preventative maintenance, run backups, add users, set-up a new printer, administer applications, or run performance monitoring tools. Enter Microsoft Windows 2003 Terminal Services.

Product Description (From Microsoft): Terminal Server builds on the foundation of Windows 2000 Terminal Services by providing organizations with a more reliable, more scalable, and more manageable server-based computing platform. Terminal Server offers new options for application deployment, more efficient access to data over low bandwidth, and enhances the value of legacy and new, lighter-weight devices. Whether using third-party add-ons or not, administrators and users will appreciate the new capabilities delivered by Terminal Server.

Terminal Services, known throughout the community as the Administrator’s best friend, uses the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), via TCP/IP, to afford server administrators access to servers running Windows 2000/2003 from other servers and workstations running Windows XP. Windows 2003 Terminal Services has been vastly improved over Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services by offering more features, greater flexibility, reliability, and scalability.

Terminal Services Benefits & Advantages:

• Applications and desktops sharing over the network.
• Administration, control, and management of, a computer(s) from a central location.
• Centralization and management of applications.
• Automatic re-connection of a disconnected session (useful for wireless connections).
• Automatic disconnection of dormant sessions.
• Smart Card Authentication support.
• Automatic re-direction of client local and network mapped drives.
• Automatic re-direction of Audio.
• 24-bit color mode support.
• 1024x768 SVGA monitor resolution support.
• Low Bandwidth (Dial-up) connection support.

Note: In order to benefit from these new features, the terminal services client must be using RDP 5.1 (included in Windows XP) and the server must have RDP 5.2 (included in Windows 2003).

• Session Directory (stores a list of sessions indexed by username and server to allow automatic re-connection from a disconnected session, in a terminal server farm environment)

New with the introduction of Windows 2003 Terminal Services is the ability to access a terminal server and establish a session via a Pocket PC, handy for administrators who are responsible for very large campus environments. Because of its use of TCP/IP as it connection medium, Terminal Server does not require the client to have a Microsoft Windows operating system in order to connect to it. Secure connections are established via a 128 bit, RC4 bi-directional encryption method is used for those clients capable of such high encryption; for those not so advanced, a lower level can be utilized.

Setup and Configuration

No clients will be able to connect your server until it is anointed as a Terminal Server, via the terminal server install process. I have installed Terminal Services on no less than 15 servers running Windows 2003 Server Standard Ed. or Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Ed.; it is a two step process. After the installation of Windows 2003 Server, a convenient configure your server wizard is there to greet you, under which the administrator may choose the roles the server will play. Configure you Server can also be accessed from Administrative Tools under Control Panel.

Once open in the select a role section, I choose Terminal Server and click Next twice to confirm my choice. The wizard will then start to install the required files and warn you that the machine will have to be restarted during the installation process. It is always a good idea to close any open programs, and then click OK. The installation will continue for a few minutes (progress can be tracked via a thin scroll bar at the top of the screen) before the machine is restarted. After the server rebooted and I logged on, I am presented with a confirmation screen that announces that the computer is now a terminal server, capable of hosting remote connections.

Note: A 120-day evaluation period has been allocated for unlicensed clients. If you do not obtain a license within that period then terminal services clients will no longer be able to initiate a session. However, users of Windows XP are granted one license of Client Access License (CAL) in order to access a Terminal Server. This license can be downloaded from Microsoft and then installed via the Terminal Service Licensing icon under Administrative Tools under Control Panel. See below for more discussion of CAL.

However, granting your newly minted terminal server the right to hand out licenses is a separate install procedure that can be accomplished from the windows components wizard section in the add/remove window from the control panel.

Once you have installed this option your server will be listed in the terminal server licensing console, but you will have to activate the server before it can start distributing licenses. Activation of the licensing server can be done via a direct connection to the internet (via Micrsoft.com), a web browser, or over the telephone.
Terminal Services Configuration & Management
The two main applications (both of which can be found in the Administrative Tools folder under Control Panel or on the start menu) used to configure the terminal server are:

• Terminal Services Manager (completely re-written in Windows 2003)
• Terminal Services Configuration

Terminal Services Manager: once open, this applet displays your server along with a listing of active domains in your Active Directory Services (ADS) Forest. Your server is represented in green both at the local level (this computer), and in the ADS tree under you particular domain. When you select the server name you can choose to view and manage the Users, Sessions or Processes tab.

Under the Users tab you can view who has established a remote connection to your server, how long they have been connected and the state of their connection; i.e. active or inactive. You can forcibly disconnect or reset a user’s session by right clicking on their name and choosing the desired menu option. You can also send the user a message (which will be displayed as a pop-up message box on the client side), view the input/output status of the session, or log the user out of the terminal server session.

Under the Sessions you can view and control the terminal server sessions. You can right click a session and select the status to see the incoming and outgoing data or reset to reset the session. There is not a lot of actual functionality here.
Terminal Service Configuration: in order for Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services to start receiving clients the service must be configured. Once open, there are two folders labeled Connections and Server Settings in the left hand side panel that can be configured; only the Connections folder need concern us.

Clicking on the Connections folder, will display the connection type (RDP-Tcp) on the right hand side pane. Again RDP is the protocol used to connect to a computer running Terminal Service. Right click on the connection, then click Properties, and a wealth of configurable options is displayed. Under tab Logon Settings for instance you can configure the program to Use client provided logon information, or make the login process automatic by always using the same login information; a dangerous move since that will allow anyone to log into your server.

Usage

I usually log into my servers from my desktop—a Windows XP Professional computer—via the Remote Desktop Connection icon found under Start/All Programs/Accessories/Communications. Connection can be made to the server of your choice either by typing in the server name; e.g. Rameses, or connecting via IP address; e.g. 10.101.202.200; I have configured all of my Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services installations to prompt the user for a log-in name and password. Once I connect to the server a dialog box appears prompting me for a user name and password. If it had configured the terminal services with a login and password via Terminal Service Configuration, I would immediately be afforded access to the server.

Once attached to the server (remote computer), I can perform all of the tasks I normally would as if I were sitting at the server console manipulating the keyboard and mouse. Through a robust 100Mbps (Megabits per second) network, session speed is fast, with no discernable latency. From a terminal services session is routinely check the nightly backups, install updates, and do other administrative tasks all without leaving my desk, so I am free to compose email, answer my phone, and do other tasks while administering my server farm. I can even reboot the remote computer from Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services because I have complete control over the remote computer.

I even use Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services at home to administer my home Personal Area Network (PAN) from my laptop computer most often while watching television. Nothing could be easier.

Microsoft Client Access Licenses

The introduction of Windows Server 2003 ushered in significant changes for Windows Client Access Licenses (CALs), including CALs used to access terminal services running on Windows Server 2003. Microsoft had hinted before the introduction of Windows 2003 Server that changes to its licensing model was forthcoming. And with Windows 2003 Server, Microsoft introduced per-user licensing. This licensing scheme makes it easier to license Windows for use over the Internet, and the scheme phased out free terminal-services access for recent desktop operating systems such as Windows 2000 Professional.

According to Microsoft, the changes cover two distinct types of CALs. The first changes affect the Windows Server CAL, which gives a client PC the right to access most of the services on Windows Server 2003. The second set of changes affect the separate Terminal Server (TS) CAL, which is required to access the Windows Terminal Server. This server is built into Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003, but the CALs are sold separately from those required to access Windows itself. As I mentioned above, when first installed, a Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services installation will allow access for a 180 evaluation period, after which it will not allow remote access without a CAL.

Also as I stated above Microsoft will offer no-charge Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services CALs in the following situations:

• All Windows desktops covered by upgrade rights purchased through Enterprise Agreements, SA, or Upgrade Advantage (an earlier upgrade rights offering) at the time of Windows Server 2003’s release will be entitled to a no-charge TS CAL.

• All devices running a legal copy of Windows XP Professional on the date that Windows Server 2003 is released will be entitled to a no-charge TS CAL. In effect, OS equivalency will be honored on a one-time basis for these customers.

Orders for no-charge CALs will be handled by Microsoft Licensing Clearinghouse. Customers must supply a volume licensing agreement number or a product key from an OEM or retail purchase to establish their eligibility for Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services CAL licenses. See the Microsoft website for complete details of the changes to CAL under Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services.

At work, we of course have a Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services licensing server on the domain, and at home I applied for and received my free Terminal Services CAL which I installed on my Terminal Server.

Conclusion

Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services is truly the network administrator’s best friend. I install the service on every new server I build, and lately I have been building quite a few. Without Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services, I would have to visit each server in the server room each morning, keeping me away from my email and the phone. I routinely mutil-task throughout the day, administering my servers, composing and answering email, making and receiving phone calls, and building computers. All of this is made possible by Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services.

Now that I have used Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services I truly would be lost without it, and my productively would see a decided drop. To me the cost of the licensing is well worth it in the long run. If you or your enterprise require a fast full featured application that will afford you full access to remote computers, look not further then Windows 2003 Server Terminal Services.

Related Reviews:

Windows XP Professional Full Edition

Windows 2003 Server Standard Ed.

Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Ed.