The 5-Minute ThinManager Overview

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The 5-Minute ThinManager Overview

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Table of Contents

What is Terminal Services? ........................................................ 1

Client/Server Relationship

Centralized Computing Benefits

Window Environment for Existing Apps

What does ACP Bring? .............................................................. 1

Centralized Client Configuration

Centralized Management

Quick Replacement

Failover

Instant Failover

Reliability

Shadowing

SmartSession

MultiSession

AppLink

E-mail Event Notification

Share Keyeboard & Mouse

Support for RDP and leA

ThinManager Ready Hardware .................................................... 3

ThinManager Windows Client ..................................................... 3

Licensing Modes ....................................................................... 4

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WHAT IS TERMINAL SERVICES?

Terminal Services is a Microsoft

Windows Server service that brings centralized

computing (the mainframe architecture) to Windows servers. A terminal server allows

many users to login and run an independent session on the server, each with its share

of the server resources. Terminal Services can be activated on any Windows 2000 or

Windows 2003 Server*.

Client/Server Relationship

Each session running on the terminal server is displayed on a client, which sends

its mouse and keystrokes to the session on the terminal server. The terminal server

processes the commands and generates the graphic screen update, which is passed

back to the client. The client then displays the graphics. This makes the terminal server

session virtually indistinguishable from a PC session.

When the client is a full-blown PC it is called a “fat client”. Fat clients require an operating

system, maintenance, security patches and updates.

On the other hand, thin clients are special computer devices that lack a hard drive and

don’t need the maintenance, patching, and updating that fat clients require.

Centralized Computing Beneﬁts

Terminal Services makes maintenance easier. Because the applications are running on

the terminal server and not on the clients, the terminal server is maintained, not the

clients. Applications that are installed once on the server are available to all the clients.

Patches and upgrades are done on the terminal servers and not the clients.

Windows Environment For Existing Apps

Although terminal services use a mainframe architecture, it is a Windows environment

so users can use familiar applications.

WHAT DOES ACP BRING?

ACP is a software company that developed the ThinManager

thin client management

software to enhance Microsoft Terminal Services.

Some of the beneﬁts of ThinManager are detailed here:

Centralized Client Conﬁguration

ThinManager allows ThinManager Ready

thin clients to be conﬁgured in a central

location instead of individually at each client.

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Centralized Management

ThinManager allows the monitoring of the thin client from a central (or remote) location.

ThinManager shows what thin clients are on or off, what terminal servers they are

assigned to, whether they are logged in, and even what applications they are running.

Quick Replacement

ThinManager Ready thin clients can be replaced with a single click of the mouse, with

the new unit assuming the old unit’s identity and displaying the old unit’s session.

Failover

ThinManager allows the thin client to be assigned to several terminal servers. If the

terminal server fails, the thin client will detect it and switch to a backup terminal server,

preventing downtime.

Instant Failover

ThinManager allows the thin client to logon to two terminal servers at once. The primary

session will be displayed while the session from the backup terminal server is hidden. If

the primary terminal server fails, the thin client will simply switch to the backup session,

providing immediate failover.

Reliability

ThinManager Ready thin clients are more reliable due to the lack of a hard drive or other

moving parts.

A ThinManager Ready thin client can be replaced with a single click, while a PC or fat

client requires hours of installation and conﬁguration. With failover, even it the terminal

server fails, the thin client will continue to function, increasing uptime and reliability.

Shadowing

ThinManager allows ThinManager Ready thin clients to be “shadowed” from within

ThinManager. This allows the administrator to see exactly what is being run on the thin

clients.

ThinManager also allows the administrator to see what user is logged into a session and

what applications and processes they are running.

SmartSession (Load Balancing)

ThinManager allows thin clients to connect to groups of terminal servers. ThinManager

will poll the servers and determine their load based on CPU usage, memory usage and

number of sessions. The thin client will then connect to the terminal server with the

lightest load.

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MultiSession (Multiple Session Support)

ThinManager allows ThinManager Ready thin clients to connect to multiple terminal

servers and run multiple sessions. These sessions are cascaded on the thin client and

can be accessed with a hot key or a selector bar.

AppLink (Application Publishing)

ThinManager allows terminal servers to be conﬁgured so that only one application runs

in the session. This can be used as a security tool to limit access to unwanted programs.

AppLink, in combination with the MultiSession functionality, allows a ThinManager

Ready thin client to connect to sessions that each has a speciﬁc application.

This simpliﬁes the terminal server conﬁguration. Instead of installing every application

on every terminal server, terminal servers can be conﬁgured to concentrate on running

fewer applications, reducing complexity and limiting conﬂicts between programs.

E-mail Event Notiﬁcation

ThinManager can be conﬁgured to send e-mails or a local message to a designated

operator’s console when the speciﬁed event occurs.

Share Keyboard and Mouse

ThinManager allows a single keyboard and mouse to be shared among as many as 5

Thin Clients. The user is then able to slide the mouse off the screen of one client and

have it move onto the screen of another, saving desk space.

Support for both RDP and leA

ThinManager Ready thin clients can use RDP, the native Microsoft protocol, or the ICA

protocol with Citrix MetaFrame to communicate with the Terminal Servers.

THINMANAGER READY HARDWARE

ThinManager Ready thin clients are available from a number of manufacturers. Each

unit, whether an ofﬁce unit or an industrial unit, is able to connect to ThinManager, right

out of the box. ThinManager software is needed to use ThinManager Ready thin clients.

THINMANAGER WINDOWS CLIENT

ACP is releasing a Windows client for installation on PCs that will allow the PC to become

a fat client. This Windows client will support ThinManager features such as failover,

SmartSession, and AppLink.

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LICENSING MODES

ThinManager has two licensing modes.

The Standard mode is a per connection license and is available in 5, 10, and 25-packs.

The Enterprise mode is an unlimited connection license and is available in Server, Site,

and Global licenses. The cost per connection using Enterprise licenses becomes lower

as more units are installed.

The Enterprise Server License allows unlimited connections to two ThinManager Servers,

a primary and a backup.

The Enterprise Site License allows any number of ThinManager Servers to be installed

at one customer site. This is useful where different departments each want control over

their own ThinManager servers.

The Enterprise Global License allows a company to install ThinManager multiple times

on multiple sites.

* Note: Microsoft requires a Terminal Server Client Access License for any device that connects to a terminal server.

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are for identiﬁ cation purposes only and may be trademarks and/or registered

trademarks of their respective companies. Speciﬁ cations subject to change

without notice. Some features require support by server operating system and

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