1.2 Glossary

This document uses the following terms:

Connection Broker: A service that allows users to reconnect to their existing sessions, enables the even distribution of session loads among servers, and provides access to virtual desktops and remote programs. Further background information about Connection Broker is available in [Anderson].

directory service (DS): A service that stores and organizes information about a computer network's users and network shares, and that allows network administrators to manage users' access to the shares. See also Active Directory.

domain: A set of users and computers sharing a common namespace and management infrastructure. At least one computer member of the set has to act as a domain controller (DC) and host a member list that identifies all members of the domain, as well as optionally hosting the Active Directory service. The domain controller provides authentication of members, creating a unit of trust for its members. Each domain has an identifier that is shared among its members. For more information, see [MS-AUTHSOD] section 1.1.1.5 and [MS-ADTS].

Domain Name System (DNS): A hierarchical, distributed database that contains mappings of domain names to various types of data, such as IP addresses. DNS enables the location of computers and services by user-friendly names, and it also enables the discovery of other information stored in the database.

handshake: An initial negotiation between a peer and an authenticator that establishes the parameters of their transactions.

remote application: An application running on a remote server.

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP): A multi-channel protocol that allows a user to connect to a computer running Microsoft Terminal Services (TS). RDP enables the exchange of client and server settings and also enables negotiation of common settings to use for the duration of the connection, so that input, graphics, and other data can be exchanged and processed between client and server.

smart card: A portable device that is shaped like a business card and is embedded with a memory chip and either a microprocessor or some non-programmable logic. Smart cards are often used as authentication tokens and for secure key storage. Smart cards used for secure key storage have the ability to perform cryptographic operations with the stored key without allowing the key itself to be read or otherwise extracted from the card.

terminal server: A computer on which terminal services is running.

tunnel: The encapsulation of one network protocol within another.