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Remote Desktop Services

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) makes it possible to run an application or an entire desktop in one location, but have it be controlled in another. With RDS, you can install and manage session-based desktops and applications, or virtual-machine based desktops on centralized servers in the data center; screen images are delivered to the users, and the users' client machines, in turn, send keystrokes and mouse movements back to the server. When using Remote Desktop Services, administrators can present users with an entire desktop environment, or with their individual applications and data which they require to complete their task. From a user perspective, these applications are integrated seamlessly—looking, feeling, and behaving like local applications.

TS Diagram

Solution Benefits

Accelerating Desktop & Application Deployment

Remote Desktop Services accelerates and extends deployment of desktops and applications to a wide array of client devices, helping make your organization more agile and responsive. RDS also enables flexible work scenarios such as hot-desking and work from home.

Help Secure Data and Applications

Remote Desktop Services helps organizations keep critical intellectual property highly secure and helps radically simplify regulatory compliance by removing applications and data from the desktop.

Increase Remote Worker Efficiency

Remote Desktop Services helps simplify remote connectivity, enabling rich applications to be accessed from a web page and seamlessly integrated with a local desktop, improving remote worker efficiency.

In the News

Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services now included as part of Windows Server 2008 RDS CAL

As of September 1st, 2009, all users or devices connecting to Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Session Host Server or Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server managed with Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services no longer need to acquire a separate Microsoft Application Virtualization CAL for Terminal Services.

See here for more details

 Microsoft announces new VDI Suites at WPC

July 14, 2009: At Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in New Orleans, Microsoft announced two new dedicated offerings for VDI – the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Standard Suite and the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Premium Suite - which make it simple for customers to purchase the comprehensive Microsoft VDI infrastructure and management software, while providing excellent value compared with competing VDI offerings. Enterprise-ready solutions from partners such as Citrix add capabilities on top of the Microsoft VDI Suites which address customer need in complex VDI deployments, meeting and exceeding the needs of the most demanding customers in the market. VDI Standard Suite and VDI Premium Suite will be available in the Fall of 2009.

For more information, please read Microsoft’s new VDI licensing: VDI Suites.

 Windows Server 2008 R2 Terminal Services becomes Remote Desktop Services!

In the new release of Windows Server 2008 R2, Terminal Services (TS) will be adding new & improved features for traditional TS scenarios, as well as, expanding the TS role to provide an extensible platform for a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). VDI provides a centralized desktop delivery architecture that enables Windows Vista Enterprise and other desktop environments to run and be managed on virtual machines within one centralized server. To better reflect the broader support of TS and VDI scenarios, the Terminal Services role will be renamed to “Remote Desktop Services” (RDS). RDS will offer single set of infrastructure for session virtualization & VDI scenarios and will include improvements such as true multimonitor, audio input, multimedia redirection, improved management and more.

For more information, please read Windows Server 2008 R2 Terminal Services Renamed.