Propalms TSE - Specification Guide
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The Propalms TSE Server Team:
A Propalms TSE server team is a combination of all the servers that have Propalms TSE software installed:
- One or more TSE Application Servers installed on Windows
- Terminal Servers
- One or more TSE Web Servers installed on Microsoft IIS web servers
- One or more TSE Load Balancers installed on Windows
- One or more TSE Relay Servers
Application Publishing:
Administrators publish Windows applications to make them available to a user, Group or OU. Propalms TSE maintains a list of these applications allowing dynamic application delivery based on a user’s membership.
Application Launch Pad:
The application launch pad is the web portal where applications are launched and from where the Propalms TSE client is distributed. Propalms TSE can also be configured to create application shortcuts on the Windows start-menu or desktop to provide an alternate way to launch applications.
Client Components:
The Propalms TSE Connection Manager is a small footprint client which enhances the user’s terminal services experience with features such as application publishing, seamless windows, TSE client policy engine, local printing and local client drive support. Connections to TSE server are also possible from certain native RDP and non-Windows clients such as Mac and Linux operating systems.
Load Balancing:
When an application is launched, the Propalms TSE client contacts the Propalms TSE load balancer, which identifies the best application server for this request — the load balancer can identify the best server
(or if a server has failed) because it continuously rates application server load metrics.
Application Hosting:
Propalms TSE then launches the application host on the application server instead of launching the application directly — this lies behind many of the special enhancements to the RDP connection that Propalms TSE brings.
Session Management:
Once the users are connected to a server, Propalms TSE will track, and an administrator may monitor, the active sessions using the application host. Administrators can perform session management functions like resetting a session or shadowing a session from a central console.
Reporting:
Throughout all processes Propalms TSE collects data and composes reports. It creates reports that administrators can view to evaluate application and system usage. Administrators can also download this information to create their own reports.
SSL Gateway:
The Propalms TSE DMZ relay server allows secure access to all applications from the Internet allowing easy firewall traversal via a single port.
PROPALMS TSE BENEFITS
Completing the Terminal Services Experience:
Propalms TSE is designed to make the most of your Windows® Terminal Services deployment by leveraging the most recent enhancements to the Microsoft® Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Propalms TSE adds indispensable management capabilities even to small-to-medium business deployments and scales to accommodate growing numbers of users, applications and servers, securely, reliably, and cost-effectively.
Return on Investment:
From IT staff to each end user, Propalms TSE helps your business save time, money and resources.
IT Managers:
Propalms TSE allows IT Managers to do more with what they have. With intelligent reporting, they finally have the data to lower software license costs, helping to manage tight budgets and spend more on strategic projects. Employees are often scattered geographically. Propalms TSE speeds the deployment of applications everywhere to better support local and remote offices.
System Administrators:
Propalms TSE makes it easy to manage applications centrally. It is simple to install and implement and, because it is web-based, the complete system can be managed from anywhere. As organizations grow, Propalms TSE scales to support hundreds or thousands of users.
End Users:
End users want to run their applications wherever and whenever they need to. If a PC is down they still need to access applications from a central server. With Propalms TSE software, the IT department can be even more responsive. Users can not even tell that the applications are not running on their PC and there is no time wasted with viruses or updating software.
SECURE DATA ACCESS
Controlled Access:
Propalms TSE ties in with existing domain structures (NT4 domain, Active Directory) and provides granular control over which users, groups of users or organizational units (OUs) have access to a defined set of server-based applications. Only users and groups authenticated by their domain credentials and provisioned through Propalms TSE’s full-featured systems management console will be able to access certain applications and data.
Privacy Through Encryption:
All sensitive information is encrypted from the login request right through to the delivery of an application and data:
- Users accessing the Propalms TSE system from outside their company’s firewall will be routed via a single, configurable port to Propalms TSE’s Relay Server component which makes the firewall traversal much easier
- The Relay Server will expose a single IP address to the client representing the entirety of the application server team, which makes Terminal Server access much more secure
- Individual IP addresses of the Terminal Servers will be hidden behind the firewall
- Terminal Servers can also be locked down to prevent RDP sessions not originating from the Propalms TSE system
Managed Priviledges:
At the time an application, or a range of applications, is published to an individual user or the member of a group, Propalms TSE will create user-specific shortcuts on that user’s desktop or application portal, the Application Launch Pad, so that:
- A user does not have access to applications when they are no longer a member of the domain or have access privileges removed
- Shortcuts are removed when the user next logs in to the system
- All application usage is monitored, metered and reported in the Management Console for quality of service and audit purposes
Policy Enforcement:
Propalms TSE’s Client Policy Engine™ allows system administrators to:
- Define groups of client devices identified by their IP address, NetBIOS name, operating system or organizational unit (OU)
- Assign certain application access policies to client groups to reflect types of connection settings according to available bandwidth, printer mappings or security settings related to saving files and passwords locally
- Set and enforce security policies based not only on who the user is, but also whether the access device is a trusted or non-trusted device based on its physical location
HIGH APPLICATION AVAILABILITY
Towards Zero Downtime:
No matter what the configuration or the workload, the Propalms TSE helps to ensure zero downtime for your critical applications by constantly monitoring the health of all servers and reporting on the level of the server/application usage in the system.
Responsive Load Balancing:
Propalms TSE manages and simplifies the complex relationships between server-based applications, users and application servers in expanding Windows® Terminal Services deployments.
In order to assure high application availability for environments involving as many as hundreds of servers and thousands of users, Propalms TSE load-balances applications across Terminal Servers based on the actual resource utilization of each server in the team.
Resource parameters are taken into account in real time by Propalms TSE’s load-balancing component when determining the most available application server in the team at any point in time, including CPU, memory, free page tables, page swaps and others.
Flexible Configuration:
Load-balancing can be configured in Propalms TSE to operate either at the connection level where several applications launched by the same user will be load-balanced as one session, or at the application level where each application launch is individually sent to the least busy server in the team to balance the workload equally across all application servers.