The Terminal Services Advanced Client (TSAC = TS-Web) is a Win32®-based ActiveX® control (COM object) that can be used to run Terminal Services sessions within Microsoft® Internet Explorer.
The TS-Web package includes the downloadable ActiveX control and sample Web pages that can be used as a starting point for running Windows®-based programs inside Internet Explorer. Developers can also use the TSAC to develop client-side applications that interact with applications running on a terminal server.
The downloadable ActiveX control provides almost the same functionality as the full Terminal Services Client, but is designed to deliver this functionality over the Web.
The Terminal Services Advanced Client has the RDP 5.0 feature set (included in Windows 2000), and can also be used to connect to any server running Windows 2000 with Terminal Services-enabled or any server running Windows NT® Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition.
Features & Benefits
Using the TS-Web package, administrators can publish standard Windows-based applications via a Web page. This is especially useful for frequently updated, hard-to-distribute applications; applications that are infrequently used by a large number of users; or for cases in which large amounts of data must be manipulated over low-bandwidth connections. The TSAC provides the following benefits:
Users do not have to manually download and install the client.
Administrators can send a URL to users, rather than the entire application.
Administrators can quickly change a Web page to point users to a new or updated application on the same or different server.
Users or administrators can roam to a different desktop and quickly access an application or desktop by simply knowing a URL.
If the TSAC is ever updated, users will automatically pick up the new version when they navigate to the Web page.
The TSAC provides significant benefits to the following groups:
Users who need to access terminal server hosted applications from ‘unmanaged’ devices.
Administrators seeking simple ways to distribute Win32-based, line-of-business applications.
Systems Administrators who manage Windows 2000 servers using the Terminal Services Remote Administration feature.
TSAC Security
The TSAC is a high-encryption, RDP 5.0 client and uses RSA Security’s RC4 cipher with a key strength of 40-, 56-, or 128-bit as determined by the server it is connecting to. The TSAC uses the well-known RDP TCP port (3389) to communicate to the server. Unlike some other display protocols, which send data over the network using clear text or with an easily decodable ‘scrambling’ algorithm, TSACs built-in encryption makes it safe to use over any network, including the Internet, as the protocol cannot be easily sniffed to discover passwords and other sensitive data.
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