Windows Terminal Server

An option in Windows NT and 2000 that enables an application to be run simultaneously by multiple users at different Windows PCs. In NT, it is known as the Terminal Server Edition.

Windows Terminal Server turns the server into a centralized, timeshared computer like the good old days of mainframes and dumb terminals. The difference is that Windows provides a graphical interface, whereas mainframes provided only character-based interfaces. All the data processing (business logic) 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 timesharing of the application and Microsoft's RDP access protocol for governing screen changes.

Support for Different Clients
Using Citrix's Presentation Server 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 flexible, resizable graphical windows that users are accustomed to. See Citrix Presentation Server and WinFrame.

RDP and ICA Protocols

Windows Terminal Server's native protocol is Microsoft's RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), which works only with Windows clients. Citrix Presentation Server (formerly MetaFrame) adds the ICA protocol, allowing a wide variety of clients to have timeshared access to the application.