Microsoft Terminal Server at CLRC

Current Use and Future PlansChris Brew

Thanks to Mark Enderby (SRD), Tony Valente (ISIS) and Mike Waters (ITD) for extra information.

Contents

• Terminal Server• Applications within CLRC

– Office Applications for Unix Users (SRD & ITD)

– Terminal Server and Clients in ISIS– Chubby Client Computing (PPD)

• Terminal Server Load Tests (ISIS & PPD)

Terminal Server

• Official mutli-user interface to windows NT - replaces 3rd party products like NTrigue, WinDD

• Clients available for Microsoft OSs• 3rd party (Citrix) add-on give clients for

other platforms• Further add-on (NCD) gives X access• Dedicated winterms are available similar

in idea to X-terms• Can run full desktop or just a single

application

Pros and Cons

• Pros– Upgrade Once/Affects Many– With WinTerms: Plug in and go

computing– Lowers the support load?

• Cons– NT wasn’t written as Multi-User OS– Most software wasn’t written as Multi-

User– Both the above cause problems!

Office applications for Unix Users

• Service running in SRD for ~1 year– 450MHz PII, 384MB memory– 20-25 active users 10-12 at any one time– Office applications + a “few” other utilities

• ITD Service now running– Replaces already running WinDD Service– Dual 450MHz PII, 512MB memory– ~30 active users– “Very steep learning curve”

SRD Experience (1)

• Application Installation:– Easy(ish) if applications come “TSE

ready”– Hard/Impossible if they do not

• If problems occur it is often easier to do a complete reinstallation of TSE then to try to patch things up

• Support from suppliers has been very patchy

SRD Experience (2)

• Problems:– Applications regularly crash with access

violations– Some applications use their own private

temp areas which cannot be moved– Temporary files do not always get

deleted at logoff. Profiles can also be left behind in the registry

– More users in NT Diagnostics -> Network than are logged on

SRD Experience (3)

• Conclusions:– Use of TSE has caused problems, a lot

of effort has been required to get the system working and the support load is quite high

– Cost savings have not been significant– Users need educating. Since many

Unix users have anti-MS bias, this can be difficult

Future Uses

• ISIS– Use of WinNT TSE to provide

computing functionality at multiply locations in the experimental hall using generic terminals

– Could be extended to use in shared offices or Boss/Secretary offices

• Chubby Client Model (PPD)– Providing extra functionality to cloned

PCs in a medium sized department

ISIS Idea

Generic Terminals

Terminal Server

ISIS Pros and Cons

• Pros– Easy to manage– All terminals

identical– Easy to

move/replace– Applications

only need to be installed once

• Cons– Hard to provide

new software.– Cost.– TSE complexity

Winterm Tests

• Tested two Wyse 3315SE Terminals:– Cost £375, 90MHz RISC processor,

built in 10BaseT Ethernet, VGA up to 1024x768, multiple session support

• Test uses reports were generally favourable about the terminal. Main concerns were about screen update speeds and resolution

• Tests of the next model up (200MHz, 100BaseT, 1600x1200) will take place soon

ISIS Conclusions

• Terminal Server and Winterm terminals have the potential to save time and effort in ISIS

• Offers the potential of “plug-in and switch-on” computing in visitor and experimental areas

Chubby Client - The Problem

• In an environment of cloned PCs where every PC is supposed to be identical, there will always be people who need applications which are not in the core set.

• What is the best method to meet this need?

Three Solutions

1. Individual - Install each of the applications by hand on every machine that needs it. Easy but time/effort consuming

2. Clone - All needed applications are included in the clone. Impossible if the list gets too large, expensive in terms of unused licences

3. Server - Application files are stored on a central server but run on the local machine. Good in principle, very hard/impossible to set up for most applications

We use a combination of 1 and 2, can TSE give another viable option?

The Model

Desktop PCs running a core suite of packages. e.g. Office, Browser, X server, TSE Client.

Terminal Server runs extra packages not needed on many machines. E.g. Compilers, Drawing packages, etc.

Conclusions

• Preliminary tests indicate that most of the software we would want to run on the server works without a great deal of tuning for TSE (most importantly Visual Studio 6.0, Adobe Illustrator, MS FrontPage)

• The indications are that the support level for these applications on TSE would be lower than our present install where needed policy

TSE Load Tests (ISIS)

• Dual 300MHz PII, 128MB RAM, 100baseT

• 4 users running Word, Excel, PowerPoint and outlook, two of the four running eXceed as well

• Screen Updates unaffected but the load but application start up times did degrade

• CPU Usage steady at ~15% but memory was short and active processed were being swaped

TSE Load Tests 2 (PPD)

• Dual 450MHz PII, 512MB RAM, 100baseT • 4 users compiling a large Visual C++

Project simultaneously– Average compile times:

• Console 3:31• 1 remote User 3:45• 2 remote Users 4:23• 3 remote Users 5:35• 4 remote Users 7:20

– Both CPUs flat out with two jobs but interactive response still OK with four

Load Test Conclusions

• Microsoft’s estimates of the number of users that can be supported on one TSE seem slightly high

• Memory seems to be the limiting factor• Interactive response and screen updates

were still acceptable even with two CPUs flat out

Final Conclusions

• Whilst far from perfect Windows NT Terminal Server Edition does seem to be a useful product, offering the prospect of reduced system management loads whilst improving the functionality.

• Things should get better as newer versions of third party applications are released “TSE ready”

• TSE is an integral part of W2K and is included in the certification process for software

Chubby Client for CDM

Central server supplying site wide Apps.

Departmental users on clients with core Apps

Departmental servers supplying extra functionality