We're in a complete W2K environment (one server, six workstations) connecting to the Net through an ADSL router. We want outside users to have the ability to dial-in remotely (through their home DSL lines) and access our contact management database (stored on the server) as well as files on other workstations. These users will not be performing administrative tasks. Terminal Services looks like it needs to run on a separate server and does not appear to be very secure. Is it better to run standard VPN (remote access) or is Terminal Services the way to go? What are the benefits of each and is there a difference in speed?
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations strongm on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
VPN versus Terminal Services
- Thread starter jgurnett
- Start date
You can start by using RAS, since it costs you nothing. If the application is very hungry for bandwidth then you can purchase the licenses for terminal services.
Terminal server is very good in conserving bandwidth. Have seen applications which are used with terminal services locally, since they nearly exhausted 100 Mb local network.
Terminal server is very good in conserving bandwidth. Have seen applications which are used with terminal services locally, since they nearly exhausted 100 Mb local network.
With VPN you are a remote work station...speed may be an issue.
With terminal server the user is just getting screen shots sent across the internet. It is usally faster.
I am not sure why you think it is any less secure. Glenn
"The answer is still 42"
With terminal server the user is just getting screen shots sent across the internet. It is usally faster.
I am not sure why you think it is any less secure. Glenn
"The answer is still 42"
- Thread starter
- #4
Hi guys -
I've successfully installed VPN/RAS. It's way slow, even over the DSL lines. So, I'm thinking of trying Terminal Services. What I've read leads me to believe that Terminal Services should not be installed on our main server, but a separate server instead in order not to hog resources. Is this true? Also, what happens once you tell the W2K server to run applications in Terminal Server mode? How does this affect the way the application runs for users who are not dialing in remotely, but are on the network in-house? Further, what happens if you decide to uninstall Terminal Services? Does this affect the applications?
I've successfully installed VPN/RAS. It's way slow, even over the DSL lines. So, I'm thinking of trying Terminal Services. What I've read leads me to believe that Terminal Services should not be installed on our main server, but a separate server instead in order not to hog resources. Is this true? Also, what happens once you tell the W2K server to run applications in Terminal Server mode? How does this affect the way the application runs for users who are not dialing in remotely, but are on the network in-house? Further, what happens if you decide to uninstall Terminal Services? Does this affect the applications?
1 Terminal Server can easily handle 6 concurent users w/o a problem so it wouldn't need to be run on a seperate server unless you're trying to run Exchange or a big SQL database on it--then I'd say pick another server.
The diff btw Remote Admin and Application Server is primarily licensing, with a few tweaks. Remote Admin only allows 1 Administrator (i.e. in Admin group) to access the server remotely at a time but requires no licening. Application server allows as many people to connect as have Client Licenses. Since all your machines are 2000, you won't have any problems since 2000 includes a CAL for Terminal Services.
Once you install terminal services, it is important that you use the Add/Remove programs from the control panel when adding new software. Doing this procedure puts the terminal server in a special installation mode so it's available to all users. 90% of the software loads fine w/o any tweaks. The other 10%, including MS Office, sometimes requires you to download a new library or two to run in a Terminal Services environment.
Last time, Download the latest Terminal Service from Microsoft, rather than using the 'create disks' option. The latest TS Client is the one they include with XP (although works under 2k) and is far superior than the previous client, imho.
Iota
The diff btw Remote Admin and Application Server is primarily licensing, with a few tweaks. Remote Admin only allows 1 Administrator (i.e. in Admin group) to access the server remotely at a time but requires no licening. Application server allows as many people to connect as have Client Licenses. Since all your machines are 2000, you won't have any problems since 2000 includes a CAL for Terminal Services.
Once you install terminal services, it is important that you use the Add/Remove programs from the control panel when adding new software. Doing this procedure puts the terminal server in a special installation mode so it's available to all users. 90% of the software loads fine w/o any tweaks. The other 10%, including MS Office, sometimes requires you to download a new library or two to run in a Terminal Services environment.
Last time, Download the latest Terminal Service from Microsoft, rather than using the 'create disks' option. The latest TS Client is the one they include with XP (although works under 2k) and is far superior than the previous client, imho.
Iota
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Question