Remote Computing - 29 Aug 2006

Remote Control Software. Windows Server 2003 R2 Terminal Services came out on top in the voting for Best Remote Control Software. Terminal Services lets you deploy Windows applications to any computing device, even those that don't run Windows. The product gives clients enhanced remote access to data over a low-bandwidth connection by sending a screen view of the data instead of the data itself and by letting you eliminate unnecessary UI components such as menu and window animation. Terminal Services also lets you use Group Policy to control access to terminal servers. Terminal Services connections are secured by 128-bit bidirectional encryption, and Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) encryption is available.

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VPN Solution. Microsoft swept the remote computing category for the second year in a row when Windows Server 2003 R2 won Best VPN Solution. VPN solutions provide a secure remote connection to a private network over a public network such as the Internet. The product lets users control both local and remote resources and includes Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) for improved security and identity management. Network Access Quarantine Control delays remote access to a private network while an administrator-provided script validates the remote access computer. In addition, Windows 2003 includes remote access account lockout, which specifies how many times a remote user can fail to be authenticated before the user is denied access to the user account.