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Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is the platform of choice to cost-effectively host Windows desktops and applications. This offering is designed to help you quickly create a RDS on IaaS deployment for testing and proof-of-concept purposes.

Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Services 2016

Applies To: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

Remote Desktop Services accelerates and extends desktop and application deployments to any device, improving remote worker efficiency, while helping to keep critical intellectual property secure and simplify regulatory compliance. Remote Desktop Services enables virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), session-based desktops, and applications, allowing users to work anywhere.

Did you mean…

• On your Windows, Android, or iOS device: Open the Remote Desktop app (available for free from Microsoft Store, Google Play, and the Mac App Store), and add the name of the PC that you want to connect to (from Step 1). Select the remote PC name that you added, and then wait for the connection to complete.
• See full list on docs.microsoft.com.
• Remote Desktop is a built-in Windows service that runs on the Remote Desktop Protocol and therefore is completely free. You don’t have to spend a single dollar on a third-party tool if your needs are limited to in-office remote support or accessing your centralized file storage on-the-go.
• Remote Desktop Server 2019 will be a server role in Windows Server 2019. Q: How do we view this announcement with Windows Virtual Desktop announcement at Ignite? A: This is the most up-to-date version of RDS to enable running the latest on-premises multi-session virtualization available with Windows Server.

Role description

The Remote Desktop Services role provides technologies that enable users to connect to virtual desktops, RemoteApp programs, and session-based desktops. With Remote Desktop Services, users can access remote connections from within a corporate network or from the Internet.

Practical applications

Remote Desktop Services allows workers to work anywhere. Some of the key benefits of Remote Desktop Services include:

• Unified administration experience – Administer your session and virtual desktop collections, configure your RemoteApp programs, manage your virtual desktops, and add servers to the deployment from one centralized console.

• User personalization – User profile disks allow you to preserve user personalization settings across session collections and pooled virtual desktop collections.

• Less expensive storage – Pooled virtual desktops can use local storage live migration between host computers. Personal virtual desktops can use storage located on network shares.

• Automated pooled virtual desktop management – Deploy and manage pooled virtual desktops centrally by using a virtual desktop template. Any changes, such as application installation or security updates, are installed on the virtual desktop template, and the pooled virtual desktops are then recreated from the virtual desktop template.

New and changed functionality for Windows Server 2012 R2

In Windows Server 2012 R2, Remote Desktop Services includes enhancements in the following areas:

• Monitor and control by using session shadowing

• Reduced storage requirements and improved performance accessing common data

• RemoteApp programs perform more like locally-based applications

• Improved reconnection performance for remote clients

• Improved compression allowing improved usage of network bandwidth

• Display resolution changes are automatically reflected on the remote client

• RemoteFX virtualized GPU supports DX11.1

For more information about new features and functionality, see What's New in Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server.

New and changed functionality for Windows Server 2012

Remote Desktop Services enables the mobile work force to connect to desktop and applications from anywhere. In Windows Server 2012, Remote Desktop Services includes enhancements in the following areas:

• Simplified Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) deployment and management

• Simplified Session Virtualization deployment and management

• Centralized resource publishing

• Rich user experience with Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

The user experience has been enhanced for Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2012 in the following ways:

• Rich Windows desktop remoting experience

• Smooth audio and video playback experience

• Rich graphics and video user experience over a WAN

• Enhanced device remoting support with USB Redirection for Session Virtualization and VDI

• True Multi-Touch and gesture remoting

• Email name discovery and subscription to administrator supplied remote resources

• RemoteFX virtualized GPU provides DX 11 support

In addition to these areas of enhancement, Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2012 introduces a new management console for managing the majority of Remote Desktop Services-related tasks. For more information about new features and functionality, see What's New in Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server.

New Microsoft Remote Desktop Clients

You can use the Microsoft Remote Desktop client to connect to a remote PC and your work resources from almost anywhere. Experience rich interactivity using a remote desktop client designed to help you get your work done wherever you are. For example, you can connect to your work PC and have access to all of your apps, files, and network resources as if you were sitting right in front of your work PC. You can leave apps open at work and then see those same apps using the RD client.

For information about these new features and functionality for Android, iOS, and Mac, see Microsoft Remote Desktop Clients.

Removed or deprecated functionality

Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Services

For a list of deprecated features, see Features Removed or Deprecated in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Features Removed or Deprecated in Windows Server 2012.

Hardware requirements

Remote Desktop Services requires that the Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 operating system be installed. There are no additional hardware or software requirements for running Remote Desktop Services.

There are several hardware requirements that must be met when you deploy RemoteFX virtualized GPU to hardware accelerate your Windows client virtual desktops:

• SLAT-enabled processor. The processor on the RemoteFX server must support Second-Level Address Translation (SLAT).

• GPU. At least one graphics processing unit (GPU) that is capable of supporting RemoteFX is required on the RemoteFX server. The GPU driver must support DirectX 11.

  Note

  Without a RemoteFX virtualized GPU, applications that require DirectX will still work using a built in Hyper-V specific GPU.

Server Manager information

Remote Desktop Services is a server role that consists of several role services. In Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012, the following Remote Desktop Services role services can be installed with this role:

See also

The following table provides additional resources for evaluating Remote Desktop Services.

Windows Remote Desktop is one of the go-to proprietary services for those managing a few remote computers on the same network. It’s free, and it’s very easy to set up and use.

But what if you need to support a larger number of clients outside your network? Will WRD be enough for that? Are there any substantial feature limitations?

Let’s dive into the pros and cons of using Windows Remote Desktop and investigate.

Pros

1. It’s free. Remote Desktop is a built-in Windows service that runs on the Remote Desktop Protocol and therefore is completely free. You don’t have to spend a single dollar on a third-party tool if your needs are limited to in-office remote support or accessing your centralized file storage on-the-go.
2. It’s easy to set up. Although Windows Remote Desktop is disabled in the operating system by default, it’s very easy to turn it on. Note, however, that Home editions of Windows don’t include this service, but we’ll get back to that soon.

Cons

1. It may not be that easy to set up outside the office. If you’re planning to use Windows Remote Desktop outside your office network, you’ll need to configure the remote network to accept incoming connection requests. Besides that, you’ll need to know the IP address of the server along with the login credentials for the remote machine(s) you want to connect to. This is a no-go approach if the remote client requiring assistance is not a tech-savvy person.
2. It’s only included in Pro, Business or Ultimate versions of Windows. If you need to support your friends, family members, or a large number of clients running any of the Windows Home versions, then Remote Desktop shouldn’t be your tool of choice. You just won’t be able to connect.
3. It doesn’t allow to reboot the remote machine and automatically reconnect. Being able to reboot the remote computer and automatically reconnect is a vital remote support feature. While many third-party applications such as FixMe.IT allow you to do that with a single mouse click, Windows Remote Desktop requires additional actions on your end.
4. It locks the remote screen, making the remote user unable to interfere or see anything that you’re doing on their machine. This is one of the biggest problems of Windows Remote Desktop that hasn’t been yet resolved. Furthermore, there are no whiteboard tools that would allow you to demonstrate a certain process to your client.
5. It doesn’t really allow to run multiple concurrent sessions. Although there’s a workaround that lets you turn on multiple remote desktop connections on Windows 10 & 8, Microsoft’s built-in tool simply wouldn’t be able to handle dozens of connections with different network settings. Techinline’s FixMe.IT, in turn, allows you to run an unlimited number of concurrent support sessions and easily switch between them in the process.

Conclusion

For local network administration and accessing your office machines remotely, Windows Remote Desktop is a great tool that’s free and easy to set up. However, if your primary goal is to easily perform remote tech support, you’d better check out third-party applications such as FixMe.IT.

Are you using Windows Remote Desktop to access your office machines? Did we miss any of its advantages or disadvantages? Let us know in the comments!

Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Services - License & Software Assurance

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