Although using VPN technology is ideal for the majority of applications, certain users find the performance of a VPN to be inadequate for their needs. These users require their remote sessions to run at the same speed as they do when they are connected to the office network. Using a VPN will not give this level of access, as the internal speed of the network is 100 Mbps (million bits per second) whilst a standard internet connection is between ½ and 2 Mbps.

This difference in speed makes the accessing of large files and certain business applications significantly slower for the user than when they are in the office.

The solution to this issue is Terminal Services. With Terminal Services, the user connects either their VPN as usual, or uses a specially designed web page to securely access the terminal server. The user is presented with a screen on their laptop which looks like another computer. In fact, in effect, it is. It has the same logon as normal, and presents the same type of start menu, icons and everything else that the user sees on their computer. The difference is that this screen is actually being generated by a server in the company’s office.

When the user interacts with this screen, the inputs (key presses, mouse movements etc) are sent to the central server. The central server then sends back the screen updates to the user. This allows the user to have a virtual PC in the main office which in turn allows the user to access the company network at the same speed as they would if they are actually in the office.

Terminal Services therefore offers a great deal of benefit to remote users. These can be summarised as:

• Users can access the company network at the same speed as when actually in the office
• The speed of the user’s internet connection does not affect the speed of applications
• Each user uses much less of the company’s bandwidth (internet connection) as they are not downloading data to their machine, only screen updates
• The user can still print to their local printer at their location from the central server using supported printers
• Any application that is run on the server only needs to be updated once, not on every remote PC thus reducing support overheads

If this is of interest to you, feel free to contact sales team using one of the methods listed on the contacts page. As usual, any initial consultation is available free of charge.