Finally after a year we have got our Terminal Services gateway online for remote access to our terminal server. I’m not saying that I spent a whole year trying to get it running, rather that it has taken that time from when we first installed the server, until I have had the opportunity to get all the pieces in place and the various configuration tasks completed. Terminal Services Gateway, now renamed Remote Desktops Gateway, is a significant leap forward in terms of being able to securely log in to a terminal server remotely (over the Internet). It encapsulates the traffic of the TS session over the HTTPS protocol through port 443. There is therefore a considerable advantage in terms of the configuration for firewall administrators. Along with the usual Remote Desktop connections, you can also deploy TS Remote Apps to your users. RemoteApp enables you to deploy applications for remote access rather than full desktops. You can also use TS Web Access, which allows users to start a TS session in their web browser (Internet Explorer only as it requires an ActiveX control). All they have to do is type in the URL of a web site that is running on the terminal server to get their session started. RemoteApp works by starting up a desktop session to run the selected application. This appears just like an ordinary window on the user’s PC even though the application is running remotely and it’s a little difficult to tell the difference sometimes. When the user quits the application, the TS session ends so it’s all pretty seamless.
