Terminal Services Overview

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Purpose

This document describes terminal services in general and provides a brief description of

Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix MetaFrame. It also provides information about auto-

created printers (a terminal server technology) and Xerox’s driver recommendations for

terminal server environments.

Terminal Services

Terminal services broadly describes a technology that allows a client to connect to a

server so that the server hosts the client’s desktop and/or applications the client can

access. The client is either fat or thin (see note below) and connects to the terminal

server with terminal emulation software. The two primary functions of terminal servers are

“remote desktop” and “published applications.”

Note: A thin client is typically a network computer without a hard disk drive that depends

on a terminal server for all of its operations. A fat client includes a disk drive and usually

has an operating system and can function independently of a terminal server.

Remote Desktop

A terminal server can host a user’s desktop. This typically occurs with (but not restricted

to) non-Microsoft based operating systems such as Unix or Linux as well as thin clients

that do not have an operating system of their own. The advantages of remote desktop

include a single location for all user data backup, one operating system to maintain, and

streamlined support.

Published Applications

In addition to remote desktop, a common use of a terminal server is for published

applications. A published application environment allows each client to have it’s own

operating system but maintains some or all of the applications that the client uses on the

terminal server. The advantage of published applications is a single location for

maintaining programs that clients need to access. This makes software upgrades simple

as they only need to be performed on the server, and ensures that all users are using the

same version of all published applications.

Terminal Servers by Product

The two terminal server products covered briefly in this document are Microsoft Terminal

Server and Citrix MetaFrame.

Microsoft Terminal Server

Windows NT 4.0 contains a separate server operating system named “Windows Terminal

Server 4.0” that is required to provide terminal services to clients. Windows 2000 and

Xerox Multifunction Devices

Customer Tips

… for the use

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January 8, 2004

This document applies

to these Xerox

products:

X WC Pro 32/40 Color

X WC Pro 65/75/90

X WC Pro 35/45/55

X WC M35/M45/M55

X DC 555/545/535

X DC 490/480/470/460

X DC 440/432/425/420

X DC 332/340

X DC 265/255/240

X DC 220/230

X DCCS 50

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2003 however have the ability to add terminal service functionality at any time via

Add/Remove Programs. Microsoft’s Terminal Server offers a basic suite of features and

acts as the core for all terminal service operations on the server.

Citrix MetaFrame

Citrix MetaFrame is a terminal service suite and an application you install on a server.

Microsoft Terminal Server must be installed on the server prior to installing MetaFrame.

MetaFrame accesses the basic functionality of Microsoft Terminal Server but also

extends the features and manageability. MetaFrame has both Service Packs (SP’s) for

bug fixes and Feature Releases (FR’s) for enhancements. You must review both the SP

and FR levels when gathering technical information for troubleshooting purposes. For a

description of MetaFrame functionality visit http://www.citrix.com.

Auto-Created Printers

Auto-created printers are virtual printers created to utilize your locally installed printers

during a terminal server session. When logged onto a remote desktop session, you are

using the server as if it were your local operating system. In a terminal server

environment, certain items such as printers, applications, or other devices installed locally

on a fat client would not typically be available from within your terminal session. One

method used to enable printing in a terminal server environment is auto-created printers.

Auto-creation is a technology that allows you to create a virtual printer object in the

Printers Folder of the session. Only you can see the virtual print object of the auto-

created local printer. The printing preferences from the local printer objects typically

transfer to the virtual printer object during creation. Preferences transfer with varying

results.

Note: To auto-create a printer object, the printer drivers installed on the client PC must

also exist in the driver library on the terminal server. Many ways exist to add a driver to

the driver library.

Driver Recommendations

We recommend you download the latest version of the PostScript Standard Interface or

Xerox User Interface driver from http://www.xerox.com for use in any terminal server

environment. Some products have both Standard Interface and Xerox User Interface

drivers available. If the driver for your MFD has both available, choose the Xerox User

Interface.

Note: In an enhanced driver is available, do not use it in a terminal server environment.

Additional Information

Xerox Customer Service welcomes feedback on all documentation - send feedback via e-

mail to: USA.DSSC.Doc.Feedba[email protected]m. Other tips about Xerox

multifunction devices are available at the following URL:

http://www.xerox.com/DocumentCentreFamily/Tips.

You can reach Xerox Customer Support at 1-800-821-2797 (USA),

TTY 1-800-855-2880 or at http://www.xerox.com.

XEROX ®, The Document Company ®, the digital X ®, and all Xerox product names are trademarks of XEROX

CORPORATION. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners.