Terminal Service success/failure stories?

[vi edit]

I support about 25 remote locations spread all the way from Lincoln Nebraska, north to Fargo ND, east to Davenport, Iowa, and north again up to Madison Wisconsin. By years end, all of the sites will be on broadband connections. My machines in the stores are starting to age, need newer OSs (on win95/98) and we are due for new version of MS office upgrade.

I have a T1 connection coming into the corporate office, and I am familiar with using TS to administer my servers in the evenings for backups, and checking virus logs.

My remote sites only really need internet access, MS office, and email available to them. They don't have any specialty programs or mega-intensive apps that they need to use.

I'm just getting tired of having to drive all over the place when we upgrade software, or having to PCanywhere into the machines for trouble shooting. Given that they will all be on broadband, and I have a pretty good sized pipe coming into the office, and all of my other problems, TS seem to be a good fit.

Since I really wouldn't have much need to upgrade the machines at the remote sites, I can easily justify the costs of a decent stand alone server to handle the TS connections and processing.

I am looking for any sort of feedback, positive or negative, on if this would be a proper situation to implement terminal services.

Thanks for your time!

 

[wlee]

I just setup a WinXP Terminal Server last week for testing. Seems to work quite well. MS Office2K requires a special install procedure. You need to use a tool from the Office Resource kit. MS OfficeXP has a special procedure, but is already RDP "aware". Printing is a bit of a trick to get working though. Not all printer drivers play nice with TS Redirection. Also, if the "local" workstation is using a Network printer, then you also need to create a "local" user account on the local-host ( TS Client ) machine for the TS Server side account in order to have remote sessions map the "local-network" printer. I hope you can follow that.

 

[vi edit]

I've done a little reading on printers. All remote sites have a single printer hooked up to them that they use. I've read that I may have to install the print drivers on the local profiles of the TS user in order to map some of them properly.

 

[vi edit]

bump?

 

[reicherb]

I don't run any apps, but use terminal services to remotely administer Win2k servers and it works well.

 

[FUBAR]

TS works good for us in many situations. Printing works fine the way we have it set up, which is the user has a local printer installed, TS'es into the server. All of the local printers show up as available printers on the term server box.

I'm curious, who do you work for that's in Fargo? That's where I'm at now... just wondering.