Remote Desktop for Administration

Applies To: Windows Storage Server 2008

You can remotely administer a storage appliance by using Remote Desktop for Administration (formerly known as Terminal Services in Remote Administration mode). You can use it to administer a computer from virtually any computer on your network. Based on Terminal Services technology, Remote Desktop for Administration is specifically designed for server management.

Remote Desktop for Administration does not require the purchase of special licenses for client computers that access the server. It is not necessary to install Terminal Server Licensing when using Remote Desktop for Administration.

You can use Remote Desktop for Administration to log on to the server remotely with any of the following features:

  • Remote Desktop Connection

  • Remote Web Administration

  • Windows Server Remote Administration Applet

For more information, see Remote Desktop for Administration, which is also available in Windows Server 2008 Help.

Note

For secure connections, it is recommended that a certificate be obtained for the server and that HTTPS connections be used to connect to Windows Storage Server 2008 .

Remote Desktop Connection

Administrators can fully administer computers running Windows Storage Server 2008 from a remote Windows–based computer by using Remote Desktop Connection. To facilitate access, administrators can create a remote desktop connection and save it to the desktop of the computer that is used for remote administration.

To create and save a remote desktop connection to Windows Storage Server 2008

  1. Click Start and then click Run. In the Run dialog box, type MSTSC and then click OK. If you are performing this step from Windows Vista, type MSTSC in the Search box and then under Programs click mstsc.exe.

  2. In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, in Computer, type the computer name or IP address of the storage appliance, and then click Options.

  3. In Connection Settings, click Save As.

  4. In the Save As dialog box, in File name, type the name you would like to use for the connection, and leave the extension as .rdp.

  5. Click Save in, select Desktop, and then click Save.

    For more information about how to configure your Remote Desktop Connection, click Help in the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box.

For more information, see Remote Desktop Connection, which is also available in Windows Server 2008 Help.

Remote Web Administration

Administrators can remotely administer a server running Windows Storage Server 2008 from a client computer by using a browser. For computers running a Windows operating system and Internet Explorer 6 (or later), the Remote RDP Client ActiveX® control will be run. The ActiveX control offers the same functionality as the Remote Desktop Client, MSTSC.

Windows Server Remote Administration Applet

You can remotely administer Windows Storage Server 2008 from non-Microsoft computers by using the Windows Server Remote Administration Applet. This applet runs in a browser on the client computer, and it can be any of the following:

  • Firefox version 1.0.6 (or later)

  • Mozilla version 1.7.11 (or later)

The Windows Server Remote Administration Applet is supported on clients running Java 2 Runtime Environment, version 1.4.2, on a computer running a Windows operating system and Internet Explorer 6 or later, or on Any of the following non-Microsoft operating systems:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 WS

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 WS

  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9

  • SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

You can establish a connection through the browser. Windows Server Remote Administration Applet does not support sound redirection, printer or port redirection, or automatically starting applications.

To establish a browser-based connection to Windows Storage Server 2008

  1. Open the browser on the client computer.

  2. Type the network name or the network IP address of the storage server followed by /desktop (for example, https://myStorageServer/desktop).

  3. In Remote Administration Desktop, provide the appropriate credentials.

Note

Administrative credentials are not required to establish a browser-based connection, but are required to manage the storage server.

Note

If Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is not installed correctly, the Additional plug-ins are required to display all the media on this page message may be displayed. For information about installing JRE on a non-Microsoft system, see the installation instructions on the Java Web site.