Remote Desktop Services

Remote Desktop Services (RDS), known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and earlier, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allows a user to take control of a remote computer or virtual machine over a network connection. RDS is Microsoft's implementation of thin client, where Windows software and the entire desktop of the computer running RDS, are made accessible to a remote client machine that supports Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). With RDS, only software user interfaces are transferred to the client system. All input from the client system is transmitted to the server, where software execution takes place. This is in contrast to application streaming systems, like Microsoft App-V, in which computer programs are streamed to the client on-demand and executed on the client machine.

RemoteFX was added to RDS as part of Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.

Overview

RDS first appeared in Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition as "Terminal Services". Starting with Windows 2000, it became a mainstay of the Windows NT family of operating systems and was improved with each version of Windows. The rename to "Remote Desktop Services" occurred with Windows Server 2008 R2 in 2009.