As Desktop as a Service (DaaS) continues to grow, we have been getting more questions about how WorkPlace compares to other DaaS solutions that use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), sometimes called Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Services. While both technologies can connect you to a hosted desktop, there are many important differences that have real impact on your business.
Remote Desktop
Microsoft includes the Remote Desktop client on Windows operating systems and the Terminal Services server component is included on Windows Servers. This is an easy way for administrators to enable a remote desktop session to a computer. For many DaaS providers this is their first system for providing hosted desktops because it is relatively easy and inexpensive to implement.
To be fair, the very first version of WorkPlace used Remote Desktop and Terminal Services Gateway to provide remote access to our customers. We very quickly found the shortcomings of remote desktop.
Printing: To print from remote desktop, the print drivers that your client computer uses have to all be loaded up on the server and setup with the exact same name. As there are more and more types of printers and users involved in your organization, this grows as an issue requiring your staff to call the help desk whenever they have a new printer or use only very specific printer models increasing costs.
Performance: Remote desktop was designed to run on high-speed local networks that are even faster than today’s broadband networks. In a remote desktop session, specific tasks like scrolling through a web page or PDF document can feel very slow. Additionally these sessions don’t manage bandwidth well so if you have many users logging in from the same office, one person can use up most of the bandwidth slowing things down for everyone else.
Security: By default, terminal servers do not use encryption; all information is transmitted in what we call “plain text.” This means that any information intercepted on a wireless connection or in transit can be read by any computer listening. Microsoft has a solution with the use of Terminal Services Gateway, but some of the RDP clients (like those for MacOS) do not support this so you are stuck trading off between security and convenience. On a side note: I would not recommend any provider who does not use terminal services gateway as it also means your servers are more closely exposed to the Internet and vulnerable to virus and hacking attacks.
Citrix XenApp
Virsage uses Citrix XenApp software to provide secure remote connections to Mac’s, PC’s, iPads, iPhones, and Android systems. Citrix has been the leader in application and desktop publishing for over a decade, and they are the industry gold standard for DaaS hosting.
Citrix solves all of the issues of printing, security, and performance that are inherent to the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Citrix clients are available for most every platform available today as well as a web login. The performance differences with audio streaming, scrolling, website flash redirection, and multi-monitor support have a huge impact on the usability of the system from the user’s perspective. Citrix is a key component in our ability to provide load-balanced, high-availability, scalable systems that are crucial to providing business-grade DaaS.
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