Remote Desktop Service: Remote Remote Desktop Desktop Service Service, former formerly ly known known as Terminal Services, is one of the
components of Microsoft Windows (both server and client versions) that allows a user to access applications and data on a remote computer over a network, using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Terminal Services Microsoft Microsoft's is 's implementation thin-client of terminal server computing, where Windows applications, or even the entire desktop of the computer running terminal services, are made accessible to a remote client machine. The client can either be a fully-fledged computer, running any operating system as long as the terminal services services protoc protocol ol is suppor supported ted,, or a barebone machin machinee powerfu powerfull enough enough to suppo support rt the protoc protocol ol (such (such as Windo Windows ws FLP FLP). ). With With termin terminal al servic services, es, only the user interfa interface ce of an application is presented at the client. Any input to it is redirected over the network to the server, server, where where all applica applicatio tion n execut execution ion takes takes [1] This Thi place. pla s ce. is in contras contrastt to appstreaming systems, likeMicrosoft likeMicrosoft Application Virtualization, Virtualization, in which the applications, while still stored on a centralized server, are streamed to the client on-demand and then executed on the client machine. Microsoft changed the name from Terminal Services to Remote Desktop Services with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2 in October 2009. [2]
RemoteFX is being added to Remote Desktop Services as part of Windows Server 2008 R2
SP1.
Overview: Terminal Terminal Services Services was first introduced introduced in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition . It was significantly improved for Windows 2000and Windows Server 2003 . All versions of Windows XP, XP, except Home edition, also include a Remote Desktop server. Both the underlying underlying protocol protocol as well as the service service was again overhauled overh Windows auled for Vista and Windows Server 2008 2008..[3]Windows includes two client applications which utilize terminal services: the first, Remote Assistance is available in all versions of Windows XP and successors and allows one user to assist another user. The second, Remote Desktop, Desktop, allows a user to log in to a remote system and access the desktop, applications and data on the system as well as control it remotely. However, this is only available in certain Windows editions. These are Windows NT Terminal Server; subsequent Windows server editions, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. In the client versions of Windows, Terminal Services supports only one logged in user at a time, whereas in the server operating systems, concurrent remote sessions are allowed.
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Microsoft provides the client softwareRemote Desktop Connection (formerly called Terminal Services Client ), available for most 32-bit versions of Windows, including Windows Mobile, and Apple's Mac OS X, that allows a user to connect to a server running Terminal Services. On Windows, both Terminal Services client and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) use TCP port 3389 by default, which is editable[4] in the Windows registry. It also includes an ActiveX control to embed the functionality in other applications or even a web page.[5] AWindows CE version of the client software is also available.[1] Server versions of Windows OSs also include the Remote Desktop for Administration client (a special mode of theRemote Desktop Connection client), which allows remote connection to the traditional session 0 console of the server. In Windows Vista and later this session is reserved for services, and users always log onto session >0. The server functionality is provided by the Terminal Server component, which is able to handle Remote Assistance, Remote Desktop as well as the Remote Administration clients. [1] Third-party developers have created client software for other platforms, including open the sourcerdesktop client for common Unix platforms. For an enterprise, Terminal Services allows IT departments to install applications on a central server. For example, instead of deploying database or accounting software on all desktops, the applications can simply be installed on a server and remote users can log on and use them via the Internet. This centralization makes upgrading, troubleshooting, and software management much easier. As long as employees have Remote Desktop software, they will be able to use enterprise software. Terminal Services can also integrate with Windows authentication systems to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the applications or data. Microsoft has a long-standing agreement with Citrix to facilitate sharing of technologies and patent licensing between Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix XenApp (formerly Citrix MetaFrame and Citrix Presentation Server). In this arrangement, Citrix has access to key source code for the Windows platform enabling their developers to improve the security and performance of the Terminal Services platform. In late December, 2004 the two companies announced a five-year renewal of this arrangement to cover Windows Vista.
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Architecture: The server component of Remote Desktop Services is Terminal Server (termdd.sys ), which listens on TCP port 3389. When an RDP client connects to this port, it is tagged with a unique SessionID and associated with a freshly spawned console session (Session 0, keyboard, mouse and character mode UI only). The login subsystem (winlogon.exe) and the GDIgraphics subsystem is then initiated, which handles the job of authenticating the user and presenting the GUI. These executables are loaded in a new session, rather than the console session. When creating the new session, the graphics and keyboard/mouse device drivers are replaced with RDP-specific RdpDD.sys drivers: and RdpWD.sys. The RdpDD.sys is the device driver and it captures the UI rendering calls into a format that is transmittable over RDP. RdpWD.sys acts as keyboard and mouse driver; it receives keyboard and mouse input over the TCP connection and presents them as keyboard or mouse inputs. It also allows creation of virtual channels , which allow other devices, such as disc, audio, printers, and COM ports to be redirected, i.e., the channels act as replacement for these devices. The channels connect to the client over the TCP connection; as the channels are accessed for data, the client is informed of the request, which is then transferred over the TCP connection to the application. This entire procedure is done by the terminal server and the client, with the RDP protocol mediating the correct transfer, and is entirely transparent to the applications. RDP communications are encrypted using 128-bit RC4 encryption. Windows Server 2003 onwards, it can use a FIPS 140 compliant encryption schemes. Once a client initiates a connection and is informed of a successful invocation of the terminal services stack at the server, it loads up the device as well as the keyboard/mouse drivers. The UI data received over RDP is decoded and rendered as UI, whereas the keyboard and mouse inputs to the Window hosting the UI is intercepted by the drivers, and transmitted over RDP to the server. It also creates the other virtual channels and sets up the redirection. RDP communication can be encrypted; using either low, medium or high encryption. With low encryption, user input (outgoing data) is encrypted using a weak (40-bit RC4) cipher. With medium encryption, UI packets (incoming data) are encrypted using this weak cipher as well. With high encryption, the cipher is changed to an unspecified 128-bit one.
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Terminal Server Terminal Server is the server component of Terminal services. It handles the job of
authenticating clients, as well as making the applications available remotely. It is also entrusted with the job of restricting the clients according to the level of access they have. The Terminal Server respects the configured software restriction policies, so as to restrict the availability of certain software to only a certain group of users. The remote session information is stored in specialized directories, called Session Directory which is stored at the server. Session directories are used to store state information about a session, and can be used to resume interrupted sessions. The terminal server also has to manage these directories. Terminal Servers can be used in a cluster as well.[1] In Windows Server 2008, it has been significantly overhauled. While logging in, if the user logged on to the local system using a Windows Server Domain account, the credentials from
the same sign-on can be used to authenticate the remote session. However, th requires Windows Server 2008 to be the terminal server OS, while the client OS is limited to Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows 7. In addition, the terminal server can provide access to only a single program, rather than the entire desktop, by means of a feature namedRemoteApp. Terminal Services Web Access (TS Web Access) makes a RemoteApp session invocable from the web browser . It includes the TS Web Access Web Part control which maintains the list of RemoteApps deployed on the server and keeps the list up to date. Terminal Server can also integrate with Windows System Resource Manager to throttle resource usage of remote applications. [3] Terminal Server is managed by Terminal the Microsoft Management Server Manager Console snap-in. It can be used to configure the sign in requirements, as well as to enforce a single instance of remote session. It can also be configured Group by using Policy or Windows Management Instrumentation. It is, however, not available in client versions of Windows OS, where the server is pre-configured to allow only one session and enforce the rights of the user account on the remote session, without any customization. [1]
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Terminal Services Gateway Gateway The Terminal Services Gateway service component, also known TS as ,
can tunnel the Remote Desktop Protocol session using a HTTPS channel.[7] This increases the security of Remote Desktop Services by encapsulating the session with Transport Layer Security (TLS)[8] This also allows the option to use Internet Explorer as the RDP client. This feature was introduced inWindows the Server 2008 and Windows Home Server products. Important to note at the time of writing (Nov 2010), there are no Mac OS or Linux clients that support connecting through a Terminal Services Gateway.
Remote Desktop Connection (RDC, also called , formerly known Remote Desktop Connection Remote Desktop as Microsoft Terminal Service Client, or mstsc) is the client application for Remote Desktop Services. It allows a user to remotely log in to a networked computer running the terminal services server. RDC presents the desktop interface of the remote system, as if it were accessed locally.[1] With version 6.0, if the Desktop Experience component is plugged into the remote server, the chrome of the applications will resemble the local applications, rather than the remote one. In this scenario, the remote applications will use the Aero theme if a Windows Vista machine running Aero is connected to the server. [3] Later versions of the protocol also support rendering the UI in full 24 bit color, as well as resource redirection for printers, COM ports, disk drives, mice and keyboards. With resource redirection, remote applications are able to use the resources of the local computer. Audio is also redirected, so that any sounds generated by a remote application are played back at the client system. [1][3] In addition to regular username/password for authorizing for the remote session, RDC also supports using smart cards for authorization [1] With RDC 6.0, the resolution of a remote session can be set independently of the settings at the remote computer. In addition, a remote session can also span multiple monitors at the client system, independent of the multi-monitor settings at the server. It also prioritizes UI data as well as keyboard and mouse inputs over print jobs or file transfers so as to make the applications more responsive. It also redirects plug and play devices such as cameras, portable music players, and scanners, so that input
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from these devices can be used by the remote applications as well. [3] RDC can also be used to connect to WMC remote sessions; however, since WMC does not stream video using Remote Desktop Protocol, only the applications can be viewed this way, not any media. RDC can also be used to connect to computers, which are exposed Windows viaHome Server RDP Gateway over the Internet. RDC can be used to reboot the remote computer with the CTRL-ALT-END key combination.
RemoteApp RemoteApp (or TS RemoteApp) is a special mode of Remote Desktop Services, available
only in Remote Desktop Connection 6.1 and above (with Windows Server 2008 being the RemoteApp server), where a remote session connects to a specific application only, rather than the entire Windows desktop. The RDP 6.1 client ships with Windows XP SP3, KB952155 for Windows XP SP2 users, [11] Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. The UI for the RemoteApp is rendered in a window over the local desktop, and is managed like any other window for local applications. The end result of this is that remote applications behave largely like local applications. The task of establishing the remote session, as well as redirecting local resources to the remote application, is transparent to the end user. [12]Multiple applications can be started in a single RemoteApp session, each with their own windows. [13] A RemoteApp can be packaged either as a
.rdp
file or distributed via an .msi Windows
Installer package. When packaged as.rdp anfile (which contains the address of the RemoteApp server, authentication schemes to be used, and other settings), a RemoteApp can be launched by double clicking the file. It will invoke the Remote Desktop Connection client, which will connect to the server and render the UI. The RemoteApp can also be packaged in a Windows Installer database, installing which can register the RemoteApp in the Start Menu as well as create shortcuts to launch it. A RemoteApp can also be registered as handler for filetypes or URIs. Opening a file registered with RemoteApp will first invoke Remote Desktop Connection, which will connect to the terminal server and then open the file. Any application, which can be accessed over Remote Desktop, can be served as a RemoteApp .[12] Windows 7 includes built-in support for RemoteApp publishing but it has to be enabled manually in registry, since there is no RemoteApp management console in client versions of Microsoft Windows.[14]
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Windows Desktop Sharing Windows Vista onwards, Terminal Services also includes a multi-party desktop sharing capability known as Windows Desktop Sharing. Unlike Terminal Services, which creates a new user session for every RDP connection, Windows Desktop Sharing can host the remote session in the context of the currently logged in user without creating a new session, and make the Desktop, or a subset of it, available over Remote Desktop Protocol.[15] Windows Desktop Sharing can be used to share the entire desktop, a specific region, or a particular application.[16] Windows Desktop Sharing can also be used to share multi-monitor desktops. When sharing applications individually (rather than the entire desktop), the windows are managed (whether they are minimized or maximized) independently at the server and the client side.[16] The functionality is only provided via a public API, which can be used by any application to provide screen sharing functionality. Windows Desktop Sharing API exposes two objects:RDPSession for the sharing session and
RDPViewer
for the viewer. Multiple viewer
objects can be instantiated for one Session object. A viewer can either be a passive viewer, who is just able to watch the application like a screen cast, or an interactive viewer, who is able to interact in real time with the remote application.[15] The RDPSession object contains all the shared applications, represented as
Application
objects, each with Window objects
representing their on-screen windows. Per-application filters capture the application Windows and package them as Window objects.[17] A viewer must authenticate itself before it can connect to a sharing session. This is done by generating using an Invitation the RDPSession . It contains an authentication ticket and password. The object is serialized and sent to the viewers, who need to present the
Invitation
when connecting.[15]
[17]
Windows Desktop Sharing API is used by Windows Meeting Space for providing application sharing functionality among peers; however, the application does not expose all the features supported by the API. [16] It is also used by Remote Assistance.
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Remote Desktop Protocol: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft,
which concerns providing a user with a graphical interface to another computer. The protocol is an extension of the ITU-T T.128 application sharing protocol. Clients exist for most versions of Microsoft Windows(including Windows Mobile ), Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, Android, and other modern operating systems . By default the server listens on TCP port 3389. Microsoft currently refers to their official RDP server software as Remote Desktop Services, formerly "Terminal Services". Their official client software is currently referred to as Remote Desktop Connection, formerly "Terminal Services Client". Every Windows version beginning with Windows XP includes an installed Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) ("Terminal Services") client (mstsc.exe) whose version is determined by that of the operating system or last applied Windows Service Pack. The Terminal Services
server is supported as an official feature on Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Serv Edition, Windows 2000 Server , all editions of Windows XP except Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Home Server , on Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, in Windows Vista Ultimate, Enterprise and Business editions, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and on Windows 7 Professional and above. Microsoft provides the client required for connecting to newer RDP versions for down level operating systems. Since the server improvements are not available down level, the features introduced with each newer RDP version only work on down level operating systems when connecting to a higher version RDP server from these older operating systems, and not when using the RDP server in the older operating system.
Version 4.0 Based on the ITU-T T.128 application sharing protocol (during draft also known as "T.share") from the T.120 recommendation series, the first version of RDP (named version
4.0) was introduced by Microsoft with "Terminal Services", as a part of the product Windows NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Server Edition . The Terminal Services Edition of NT 4.0 relied on Citrix's MultiWin technology, previously provided as a part of Citrix WinFrame atop Windows NT 3.51, in order to support multiple users and login sessions
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simultaneously. Microsoft required Citrix to license their MultiWin technology to Microsoft in order to be allowed to continue offering their own terminal services product, then named Citrix MetaFrame, atop Window NT 4.0. The Citrix provided DLLs included in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Services Edition still carry a Citrix copyright rather than a Microsoft copyright. Later versions of Windows integrated the necessary support directly.
Version 5.0 It was introduced with Windows 2000 Server , added support for a number of features, including printing to local printers, and aimed to improve network bandwidth usage.
Version 5.1 It was introduced with Windows XP Professional, included support for 24-bit color and sound. The client is available for Windows 2000, Windows 9x, Windows NT 4.0.[3] With this version, the name of the client was changed from Terminal Services Client to Remote Desktop Connection.
Version 5.2 It was introduced with Windows Server 2003 , included support for console mode connections, a session directory, and local resource mapping. It also introduces Transport
Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 for server authentication, and to encrypt terminal serve communications.[4] This version is built into Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions.
Version 6.0 It was introduced with Windows Vista and incorporated support for Windows Presentation Foundation applications, Network Level Authentication, multi-monitor spanning and large desktop support, and support for TLS 1.0 connections. Version 6.0 client is available for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2 (x86 and x64 editions) and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.
Version 6.1 It was released in February 2008 and is included with Windows Server 2008, as well as with Windows Vista Service Pack 1. The client is included with Windows XP Service Pack 3. It is also installable through KB952155 for Windows XP SP2. In addition to changes related to how a remote administrator connects to the "console", this version incorporates new
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functionality introduced in Windows Server 2008, such as connecting remotely to individual programs and a new Terminal Services Easy Print driver, a new client-side printer redirection system that makes the client's full print capabilities available to applications running on the server, without having to install print drivers on the server.
Version 7.0 It was released to manufacturing July 2009 and is included with Windows Server 2008 R2, as well as with Windows 7. With this release, the server name was also changed fromTerminal Services to Remote Desktop Services. This version incorporates new functionality such as Windows Media Player redirection, bidirectional audio, true multimonitor support, Aero glass support, enhanced bitmap acceleration (which improves user experience over high latency network connections), Easy Print redirection, Language Bar docking. The RDP 7.0 client is available on Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista SP1/SP2. RDP 6.1 client and RDP 7.0 client are not supported on Windows Server 2003 x86 and Windows Server 2003 / Windows XP Professional x64 editions. RDP 7.0 clients also do not support connecting to terminal servers running Windows 2000 Server . Most RDP 7.0 features like Aero glass remoting, bidirectional audio, Windows Media Player redirection, true multiple monitor support, Remote Desktop Easy Print are only available in Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate editions.
Features:
32-bit color support. 8-, 15-, 16-, and 24-bit color are also supported.
128-bit encryption, using the RC4 encryption algorithm, as of Version 6. Older
implementations suffer from a man-in-the-middle vulnerability, which can allow an attacker to decrypt the encrypted streams by recording the encryption key as it is transmitted.
Audio Redirection allows users to run an audio program on the remote desktop and
have the sound redirected to their local computer.
File System Redirection allows users to use their local files on a remote desktop
within the terminal session.
Printer Redirection allows users to use their local printer within the terminal session
as they would with a locally or network shared printer.
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Port Redirection allows applications running within the terminal session to access
local serial and parallel ports directly.
The clipboard can be shared between the remote computer and the local computer.
Seamless Windows: Remote applications can run on a client machine that is served by
a Remote Desktop connection. It uses virtual channel method, and available since RDP 5.
RemoteFX: RemoteFX provides virtualized GPU support and host side encoding and
is being shipped as part of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
The following features were introduced with the release of RDP 6.0 in 2006:
Remote Programs: Application publishing with client-side file type associations.
Terminal Services Gateway: Enables the ability to use a front-end IIS server to accept
connections (over port 443 ) for back-end Terminal Services servers via an https connection, similar to how RPC over https allows Outlook clients to connect to a back-end Exchange 2003 server. Requires Windows Server 2008
Network Level Authentication
Support for remoting Aero the GlassTheme (or Composed Desktop),
including ClearType font smoothing technology.
Support for remoting of Windows Presentation Foundation applications: Compatible
clients that have .NET Framework 3.0 support will be able to display full Windows Presentation Foundation effects on a local machine.
Rewrite of device redirection to be more general-purpose, allowing a greater variety
of devices to be accessed.
Fully configurable and scriptable via Windows Management Instrumentation.
Improved bandwidth tuning for RDP clients.
Support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 on both server and client ends (set as
default).
Multiple monitor support. Spread session across two monitors.
Non Microsoft Implementations: There are numerous non-Microsoft implementations of RDP clients and servers. The opensource command-line client rdesktop is the most commonly-used backend for the Remote
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Desktop Protocol on Linux/Unix operating systems. There are many GUI clients, like tsclient and KRDC, which are built on top of rdesktop. In 2009, rdesktop was forked as FreeRDP, a new project aiming at modularizing the code, addressing various issues, and implementing new features. The current most popular front-end to FreeRDP is Remmina.
Third Party tools: An open-source implementation of a Remote Desktop Protocol server on Linux is xrdp. One can use Windows' Remote Desktop Connection client to connect to a server running xrdp.
Remote Desktop Software: In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software or an OS feature allowing applications, often including graphical applications, to be run remotely on a server , while being displayed locally. Remote desktop applications have varying features. Some allow attaching to an existing user's session (i.e., a running desktop) and "remote controlling", either displaying the remote control session or blanking the screen. Taking over a desktop remotely is a form of remote administration.
Overview: It can also be explained as remote control of a computer by using another device connected via the internet or another network. This is widely used by many computer manufacturers and large businesses' help desks for technical troubleshooting of their customers' problems. Windows XP, Vista, and Server 2003/2008 include Remote Desktop Services ; Apple includesScreen Sharing with Mac OS X but sells its Apple Remote Desktop separately. There are various professional third-party, open source and freeware remote desktop applications, some of which cross-platform are across various versions of Windows, Mac, and UNIX/Linux/BSD. Typical
commercial
programs
used
controlling windows PCs include LogMeIn, GoToMyPC, Anyplacecontrol, Radmin, RealVN C, TeamViewer , NetSupportManager , pcAnywhere, I'm InTouch and Laplink .For Macintosh computers,thereis AppleRemoteDesktop and Timbuktu ( Timbuktu also works under Windows). There is also open source remote control software such as many variants of VNC (Virtual Network Computing), and FreeNX. Another solution is a Web control, where you can use your computer anywhere and any platform, is a
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for
FogCreek-like solution. There are also many open-source solutions, including FreeRDP, TightVNC, and quite a few others.
How it Works: When it works the controlling computer displays a copy of the image received from the controlled computer's display screen. The copy is updated on a timed interval, or when a change on screen is noticed by the remote control software. The software on the controlling computer transmits its own keyboard and mouse activity to the controlled computer, where the remote control software implements these actions. The controlled computer then behaves as if the actions were performed directly at that computer. In many cases the local display and input devices can be disabled so that the remote session cannot be viewed or interfered with. The quality, speed and functions of any remote desktop protocol are based on the system layer where the graphical desktop is redirected. Software such as PC Anywhere, VNC and others use the top software layer to extract and compress the graphic interface images for transmission. Other products such as Microsoft RDP, Graphon GO-Global and others use a kernel driver level to construct the remote desktop for transmission.
Uses: A main use of remote desktop software is remote administration. It can also be used for "headless computers": instead of each computer having its own monitor, keyboard, and mouse, or using a KVM switch, a monitor, keyboard and mouse can be attached to one computer with remote control software, and headless computers controlled by it. The duplicate desktop mode is useful for user support and education. Remote control software combined with telephone communication can be nearly as helpful for novice computer-users as if the support staff were actually there. Since the advent of cloud computing remote desktop software can be housed on USB hardware devices, allowing users to connect the device to any PC connected to their network or the Internet and recreate their desktop via a connection to the cloud. This model avoids one problem with remote desktop software, which requires the local computer to be switched on at the time when the user wishes to access it remotely. (It is possible with a router with C2S VPN support, and Wake on LAN equipment, to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection with the router over the Internet if not connected to the LAN, switch on a computer connected to the router, then connect to it.) The common name for USB devices with the capacity to remotely recreate a user's desktop is "secure portable office".[1] 13
Malicious use Remote control software is also used maliciously. From 2008, typically someone will be telephoned at random by a caller claiming to be from Microsoft. The victim might be told that a virus has been detected originating on their machine, or offered a free checkup. They will be asked to install remote control software, often TeamViewer as it is very easy to use. This gives the attacker full control, and they can do anything they want. Typically they will do things which imply that the system is not working properly, e.g. by displaying alarming
messages, then demand payment to resolve the "problem". It is also possible for Trojan software to be installed to recruit the machine to a botnet.
Terminology Used
Listening mode: where a server connects to a viewer. The server site does not have to
configure its firewall/NAT to allow access on port 5900 (or 5800); the onus is on the viewer, which is useful if the server site has no computer expertise, while the viewer user would be expected to be more knowledgeable.
Audio Support: the remote control software transfers audio signals across the
network and plays the audio through the speakers attached to the local computer. For example, music playback software normally sends audio signals to the locally-attached speakers, via some sound controller hardware. If the remote control software package supports audio transfer, the playback software can run on the remote computer, while the music can be heard from the local computer, as though the software were running locally.
encrypting the data Built-in Encryption: the software has at least one method of
between the local and remote computers, and the encryption mechanism is built into the remote control software.
File Transfer: the software allows the user to transfer files between the local and
remote computers, from within the client software's user interface.
Seamless Window: the software allows an application to be run on the server, and
just the application window to be shown on the clients desktop. Normally the remote user interface chrome is also removed, giving the impression that the application is running on the client machines.
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Remote Desktop Service: Remote Remote Desktop Desktop Service Service, former formerly ly known known as Terminal Services, is one of the
components of Microsoft Windows (both server and client versions) that allows a user to access applications and data on a remote computer over a network, using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Terminal Services Microsoft Microsoft's is 's implementation thin-client of terminal server computing, where Windows applications, or even the entire desktop of the computer running terminal services, are made accessible to a remote client machine. The client can either be a fully-fledged computer, running any operating system as long as the terminal services services protoc protocol ol is suppor supported ted,, or a barebone machin machinee powerfu powerfull enough enough to suppo support rt the protoc protocol ol (such (such as Windo Windows ws FLP FLP). ). With With termin terminal al servic services, es, only the user interfa interface ce of an application is presented at the client. Any input to it is redirected over the network to the server, server, where where all applica applicatio tion n execut execution ion takes takes [1] This Thi place. pla s ce. is in contras contrastt to appstreaming systems, likeMicrosoft likeMicrosoft Application Virtualization, Virtualization, in which the applications, while still stored on a centralized server, are streamed to the client on-demand and then executed on the client machine. Microsoft changed the name from Terminal Services to Remote Desktop Services with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2 in October 2009. [2]
RemoteFX is being added to Remote Desktop Services as part of Windows Server 2008 R2
SP1.
Overview: Terminal Terminal Services Services was first introduced introduced in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition . It was significantly improved for Windows 2000and Windows Server 2003 . All versions of Windows XP, XP, except Home edition, also include a Remote Desktop server. Both the underlying underlying protocol protocol as well as the service service was again overhauled overh Windows auled for Vista and Windows Server 2008 2008..[3]Windows includes two client applications which utilize terminal services: the first, Remote Assistance is available in all versions of Windows XP and successors and allows one user to assist another user. The second, Remote Desktop, Desktop, allows a user to log in to a remote system and access the desktop, applications and data on the system as well as control it remotely. However, this is only available in certain Windows editions. These are Windows NT Terminal Server; subsequent Windows server editions, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. In the client versions of Windows, Terminal Services supports only one logged in user at a time, whereas in the server operating systems, concurrent remote sessions are allowed.
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