Working with Terminal Server

When you choose to make Remote Desktop accessible in Windows Server 2008, you install a small subset of the Terminal Server functionality. To obtain full Terminal Server functionality, however, you must install the Terminal Services role. This role provides considerable additional functionality for your server, such as letting users access applications remotely. You can use this role to help thin clients access the applications they need. However, if you don’t have thin clients and assume that the user will use local applications to modify data, installing this support really isn’t necessary.

It pays to view the warning on the Terminal Services page of the Add Roles Wizard. You don’t have to install Terminal Services if your only purpose is to allow administrative access to the server. In fact, if you plan to use Remote Desktop for other users, you simply have to add them to a list of people allowed to use Remote Desktop — you don’t have to install Terminal Services. Installing Terminal Services opens another potential security hole on your server, so you should use this role only when necessary.

Carefully consider the Terminal Services features you need, and then install the Terminal Services features you require before you install any applications. If you install the applications first and then Terminal Services, the applications may not work correctly. The applications you share using Terminal Services must provide correct support for a multiuser environment. For example, database applications normally provide multiuser support, but a word processor may not. When you install Terminal Services after you install the applications, the multiuser support may not work properly. If this problem occurs, try uninstalling and then reinstalling the application to fix the problem.

Terminal Services on Windows Server 2008 also provides support for a new feature, Network Level Authentication (NLA). This feature works great as long as you have a network that solely supports Vista and Windows 2008 systems with the correct support installed. Most administrators need to install Terminal Services using the Do Not Require Network Level Authentication option.

When you reach the Role Services page of the Add Roles Wizard, choose the Terminal Services roles you need. Don’t install all the roles unless you truly need them. Installing either TS Gateway or TS Web Access requires that you also install Internet Information Server (IIS), Network Access Protection (NAP), RPC over HTTP Proxy, and Windows Process Activation Services role services. You see Terminal Services abbreviated as TS in many places. The following sections describe the additional features you see when you install the Terminal Services role on your server. You can use the information in these sections to determine whether you actually need to install a particular Terminal Services role.

Source of Information : For Dummies Windows Server 2008 All In One Desk Reference For Dummies