Peripheral Hardware (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)

1/6/2010

This topic discusses considerations for peripheral hardware in a Terminal Services environment.

Device Location

From the perspective of a Remote Desktop device user, the server that is running Terminal Services is the local computer. Therefore, peripheral devices, such as disk drives and printers attached to the server, appear as local devices to a Remote Desktop client. In contrast, drives and printers attached to a client computer appear to be remote devices from the perspective of the server. Therefore, to access a local device attached to a client computer, you must use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name of the client share or peripheral device. This resembles what you would do for any other remote share or peripheral device.

Device Redirection

The early releases of Terminal Services did not support applications that sent output directly to serial, parallel, and sound ports attached to a client computer. However, recent versions of Terminal Services support redirection to these ports.

During a Terminal Services session, the keyboard and mouse connected to the client computer are always redirected to the server.

Printer Redirection

Printer redirection automatically sends print jobs to a printer, such as a locally attached printer, during a Terminal Services session.

Be careful when you select the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) redirected printer type. If the selection does not match the actual printer manufacturer and model, the RDP server will be unable to load the correct print driver. If the printer driver is incompatible, invalid print results can appear.

Windows Embedded CE cannot verify the printer type. The print model and type information is sent from the Windows Embedded CE client to the RDP server that auto-configures the matching print driver. If the printer is replaced with another incompatible type, print output will be incorrect.

To use printer redirection, it must be included in an OS design by adding SYSGEN_RDP_PRINTER. Printer redirection must also be enabled on the Windows Embedded CE powered device. You can enable it by editing a setting in the .rdp file or in the registry, or if you are using a Remote Desktop Web connection, by calling the appropriate method on IMsRdpClientAdvancedSettings.

Port Redirection

You can use COM port redirection to enable a server application to access a Windows Embedded CE powered device serial port, such as COM1 and COM2, or parallel port during a Terminal Services session.

If the device attached to a local COM port requires a specific type of device driver, make sure that you install the driver on the server that is running Terminal Services.

To use port redirection, it must be included in an OS design by adding SYSGEN_RDP_PORT. You must also enable port redirection on the Windows Embedded CE powered device. You can enable it by editing a setting in the .rdp file in the registry. Or, if you are using a Remote Desktop Web connection, you can enable it by calling the appropriate method on IMsRdpClientAdvancedSettings.

Be aware that USB ports on a thin client cannot be redirected by using port redirection.

File Storage Redirection

File storage redirection enables users and administrators to redirect the path of a folder on a remote computer to a new location on a local computer. For example, a user can map a client local drive to a drive on the server during a Terminal Services session.

For example, you could specify to expose external storage, such as Compact Flash or USB storage, only through the redirected drive. Then, information saves only to the redirected drive. This enables users to save their files from the server onto a locally attached storage card.

To use file storage redirection, it must be included in an OS design by adding SYSGEN_RDP_DRIVE. To use filtered file redirection, it must be included in an OS design by adding SYSGEN_RDP_FILTERFSD. For more information, see Filtered File Storage Redirection.

Smart Card Redirection

Smart Card redirection enables a user to log on to a remote server by using a Smart Card. The server authenticates the user by using credentials on a Smart Card plugged into a Smart Card reader attached to the user device. To use Smart Card redirection, you must include the USB CCID Smart Card driver in your OS design. To use the USB CCID Smart Card driver, you must add a custom Smart Card CSP supplied by your third-party Smart Card reader provider. For more information, see USB CCID Smart Card Reader Class Driver.

To use Smart Card redirection, it must be included in an OS design by adding SYSGEN_RDP_SMARTCARD. Smart Card redirection must also be enabled on the Windows Embedded CE powered device. You can enable it by editing a setting in the .rdp file, or in the registry. Or, if you are using a Remote Desktop Web connection, you can enable Smart Card redirection by calling the appropriate method on IMsRdpClientAdvancedSettings.

Smart Card redirection on thin clients can be used only to log on from a Remote Desktop Connection to a remote server by using the certificates that are stored on the Smart Card. Smart Card redirection cannot be used for other purposes during a Terminal Services session.

Audio Redirection

Audio redirection enables sounds or audio on the server to be redirected to the audio output hardware built into the device, or to speakers or headphones attached to the device. If the audio output hardware requires a specific type of device driver, make sure that the driver is installed on the server.

To use audio redirection, it must be included in an OS design by adding SYSGEN_RDP_AUDIO. Audio redirection must also be enabled on the Windows Embedded CE powered device. You can enable it by editing a setting in the .rdp file, or by editing a setting in the registry.

See Also

Reference

IMsRdpClientAdvancedSettings Methods for Redirection

Concepts

Terminal Services Programming Guidelines
Terminal Services Client Configuration through the .rdp File

Other Resources

Configuring the Terminal Services Client