2.
Scaling outa solution refers to expanding the number of systems that are partof the solution. Additional servers are added to the Terminal Services solutionand a technology such as Network Load Balancing (NLB) is used to dis-tribute requests and load amongst all participating servers, as illustrated in Figure 2.5.
Figure 2.5
A NLB Terminal Server Cluster
Remote Thin Clients
Remote Workstation
Local Workstations
WAN
Public Network
TS1
TS2
TS3
TS4
Private Network
(NLB management traffic)
■
Improved Manageability The bulk of the Terminal Server-related options canbe configured and managed directly through Group Policy settings, allowing theadministrator to configure the desired settings and have them applied to their net-work users during the subsequent Group Policy refresh event. Advanced users maywant to consider taking advantage of the powerful management features providedby the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) that allows for completeremote management capability through scripting.
T
EST D
AY T
IPMake sure that you are familiar with the new Windows Server 2003 TerminalServices features for this exam.
Terminal Server Session Directory
The Terminal Server Session Directory is a new feature that was created to allow users toeasily reconnect to a disconnected session if they are using a NLB Terminal Server farm(refer back to Figure 2.5).When a request is made for an application hosted by theTerminal Server cluster, the request is actually sent to the Virtual Internet Protocol (IP)address that represents the entire cluster. NLB uses a mathematical algorithm to determinewhich of the available nodes should receive the new client request, and hands off therequest to the appropriate server’s dedicated IP address, which is specific to each server inthe cluster. If the client disconnects the session and later wants to reconnect, the defaultbehavior of NLB is to run the request through the algorithm again, possibly putting thenew session on a different Terminal Server.The Terminal Server Session Directory functionprevents this problem by allowing the clients to reconnect to the Terminal Server that theirexisting session is located on.The session directory for Windows Server 2003 maintains a list of sessions, indexed byuser name. Once this indexing takes place, a user who has terminated a session with theTerminal Server is able to reconnect and resume the previous session so that work in thatsession can be completed.The session directory is best placed on a server that is not part ofthe NLB cluster group, although it can be placed on one of the members if required(although not recommended).Although not likely to be on the test, you should be aware of the capabilities thatthe session directory gives you. For more information see the following MicrosoftKnowledge Base articles: https://traloihay.net and https://traloihay.net.
Installing and
Configuring a Terminal Server
This section examines the installation and configuration of the Terminal Server service. Itstarts off by installing the Terminal Server and then examines the configuration options thatare available for the Terminal Server.
Installing the Terminal Server
There are two different ways to install Terminal Server: using the Manage Your Serverutility or using the Windows Component Wizard. Each of these methods are examined inExercises 2.01 and 2.02, respectively.
E XERCISE 2.01
I NSTALLING A T ERMINAL S ERVER U SING M ANAGE Y OUR S ERVER
