Managing User Sessions in .NET framework

Generating QR Code 2d barcode in .NET framework Managing User Sessions

There are a variety of settings that determine the behavior of a user session that has been active, idle, or disconnected for a time. These settings can be configured on the Sessions tab of the Terminal Server Connection properties dialog box, as shown in Fig ure A-12. The settings can also be configured with Group Policy.

Figure A-12

In previous implementations of terminal services, it was difficult to load-balance termi nal servers. Windows Server 2003 Enterprise and Datacenter Editions introduce the ability to create server clusters, which are logical groupings of terminal servers. When a user connects to the cluster, the user is directed to one server. If the user s session is disconnected and the user attempts to reconnect, the terminal server receiving the con nection will check with the Session Directory to identify which terminal server is host ing the disconnected session, and will redirect the client to the appropriate server.

A-16

A load-balancing technology such as Network Load Balancing (NLB) or DNS round-robin. The load-balancing solution will distribute client connections to each of the terminal servers. A Terminal Services Session Directory. You must enable the Terminal Services Ses sion Directory, which is installed by default on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise and Datacenter Editions, using the Services console in Administrative Tools. It is best practice to enable the session directory on a server that is not running Termi nal Server. The Terminal Services Session Directory maintains a database that tracks each user session on servers in the cluster. The computer running the ses sion directory creates a Session Directory Computers local group, to which you must add the computer accounts of all servers in the cluster. Terminal server connection configuration. Finally, you must direct the cluster s servers to the session directory. This process involves specifying that the server is part of a directory, the name of the session directory server, and the name for the cluster, which can be any name you wish as long as the same name is specified for each server in the cluster. These settings can be specified in the Server Settings node of Terminal Server Configuration, or they can be set using a GPO applied to an OU that contains the computer objects for the cluster s terminal servers.

When a user connects to the cluster, the following process occurs: 1. When the user logs on to the terminal server cluster, the terminal server receiving the initial client logon request sends a query to the session directory server. 2. The session directory server checks the username against its database and sends the result to the requesting server as follows:

If the user has no disconnected sessions, logon continues at the server host ing the initial connection. If the user has a disconnected session on another server, the client session is passed to that server and logon continues.

Be sure to know the pieces that are required to establish a terminal server clus ter. Should you decide to implement a terminal server cluster within your enterprise, you can refer to the Help And Support Center for detailed instructions for doing so.

A-17

Terminal Server allows an administrator to view or take control of a user s session. This feature not only allows administrators to monitor user actions on a terminal server, but also acts like Remote Assistance, allowing a help desk employee to control a user s ses sion and perform actions that the user is able to see as well. To establish remote control, both the user and the administrator must be connected to terminal server sessions. The administrator must open the Terminal Server Manager console from the Administrative tools group, right-click the user s session, and choose Control. By default, the user will be notified that the administrator wishes to connect to the session, and can accept or deny the request.