Windows Terminal Server

Known officially as Windows NT 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, it is an option in NT that enables an application to be run simultaneously by multiple users at different Windows PCs. Windows Terminal Server turns an NT server into a centralized computer like the old days of mainframes and dumb terminals. The difference is that Windows provides a graphical interface, whereas mainframes provided only text based interfaces. All the data processing is performed in the server, and the client PCs display only the user interface and screen changes. Windows Terminal Server uses Citrix's MultiWin technology to provide the sharing of the application and Microsoft's RDP access protocol for governing screen changes. The Windows 2000 counterpart of Terminal Server Edition is known as the Terminal Services option.

Using Citrix's MetaFrame software on top of Terminal Server adds the ICA protocol, which is supported by a huge number of client types, including Windows, OS/2, DOS, Linux, UNIX, Macintosh, Java-based apps as well as Web browsers. In addition, ICA provides the flexibile, resizable graphical windows that users are accustomed to.

RDP and ICA Protocols

Windows Terminal Server's native protocol is Microsoft's RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), which works only with Windows clients. Citrix's MetaFrame adds the ICA protocol, allowing a huge variety of client types to have timeshared access to the application and providing a look and feel more like a normal Windows application.