Support Home | Sales Website | Technology | Contact Us |
![]() |
RDP Support | ||||
RDPWin KB | Booking Engine - IRM.Net | RDPWin4 & PCI Compliance | Search |
Last updated 4/24/2012
Note: There are special steps required to install Pervasive on Citrix or Terminal Server. See Pervasive Work Group Engine Required, Run as Service on Citrix/Terminal Server. The work group engine can be purchased from RDP by calling RDP Sales.
Warning: 64-bit workstations are not supported for call accounting, phone actuator, maid phone, voicemail, and point sale interface computers. These programs still require the use of 16-bit MS DOS program, which is not supported on 64-bit machines. 32-bit operating systems are supported for interfaces.
For maximum performance, RDP suggests that all local workstations use the RDPWin Client directly connected to the data server. Remote workstations can use Citrix or terminal services with the following guidelines:
Pervasive Workstation Engine Must be Installed as a Service | There are special steps required to install Pervasive on Citrix or terminal servers. See Pervasive Work Group Engine Required, Run as Service on Citrix/Terminal Servers. The work group engine can be purchased from RDP for $100. Call RDP Sales. |
---|---|
Citrix or Terminal Services Required | Direct “server-to-server” connections such as Microsoft's RAS, even with a dedicated T1 line, will be too slow to function with RDP. Either Citrix or terminal services is required. |
Number of Clients per Citrix or terminal server
Performance of RDPWin |
For maximum performance, RDP suggests that all local
workstations use the RDPWin Client directly connected to
the data server. For performance reasons, only remote workstations
should use Citrix or terminal services. The performance of RDPWin when running remote
in a Citrix or terminal services environment depends
on many factors, including:
We strongly suggest purchasing multiple, inexpensive servers rather than one expensive Citrix/terminal server with more memory and multiple processors for the following reasons:
Our technical staff is glad to help evaluate how many Citrix or terminal servers are required for your application. Please contact RDP Support for configuration assistance. |
Remote Access
for up to Two Users |
For infrequent remote access from one or two workstations, a separate Citrix/terminal server is not required. The RDP data server with Windows 2003 has the ability to host two remote workstations using the included Remote Desktop for Administration mode of Windows 2003. |
Communication Line T1, DSL, etc. |
The speed of the communication line between the remote locations and the data server location is critical to performance. The faster the communication line, the better the performance. A T1 line at the location of the data server and Citrix/terminal server is ideal. Remote locations may be able to use slower connections such as DSL, depending on how many remote workstations are at a given location. |
Component | Description |
---|---|
Separate Windows 2012 Data Server | When more than two workstations require remote access RDP requires
that the Citrix/Terminal software be installed on a separate Windows 2012 server. The RDP data server must be running Windows 2012 Server with all service packs. All "critical updates" shown on the Microsoft website must be installed. See "Performance Issues" in this document. |
Gigabit Ethernet Connection | The Citrix or Terminal Server and RDP data server exchange a tremendous amount of
data. As a result, both servers must have one gigabit Ethernet
cards, with "Category Five" wiring and a gigabit switch. RDP
requires the Citrix server to be on the same switch and have the same
subnet mask as the RDP data server. |
Pervasive Licenses Required | RDP software uses the Pervasive.SQL database. The data server must
have the current version of Pervasive P.SQL engine and each
Citrix/Terminal server must have the current P.SQL Work Group Engine
installed. Each client on the Terminal Server will consume one Pervasive
license, so if there are 2 Citrix/Terminal Servers each with 5 workstations connected,
10 Pervasive licenses will be used. Pervasive licenses can be purchased from
RDP Sales. See RDP
and Pervasive software for details. |
RDP Station Numbers | A unique RDP Station number must be assigned to every workstation that will connect to the Citrix Server. See User Name and RDP Station Number in this document. |
Printing | See: Printing with RDP Using Remote Desktop Connection and Terminal Services 2003. |
After installation of the Citrix or Terminal server, call RDP support at 970-845-7108 for help installing the Pervasive Engine software and the RDPWin Client software.
Each RDP session requires a unique RDP station number. In most cases, a given
workstation only has one RDP session open, and therefore only requires one Station
Number. RDP station numbers must be unique numbers from 1-999. It is
important to assign them to workstations starting with the number "1" and working up.
For more information about setting Station Numbers
click here.
For tracking purposes, station numbers should be grouped by remote property.
For example, assume there are three remote hotels all connecting to the same
Citrix or Terminal Server at Central Reservations. We suggest assigning station
numbers as follows:
Hotel Name | Station Number Range |
---|---|
Hotel "A" | 10-30 |
Hotel "B" | 31-50 |
Hotel "C" | 51-70 |
New users created in Active Directory will not be able to logon to the Citrix
or Terminal Server until the permissions are changed with the steps below. On the
Citrix Server, select:
The Citrix client software must be installed on every workstation. These clients are provided on the Citrix CD. However, RDP suggests downloading the current ICA client from www.citrix.com. RDP requires that all clients use Windows XP.
Perform the following test to make sure a user has access to the RDP property management system.
By default Citrix will map all client COM ports. To verify that mapping is enabled:
There are various methods for printing from the RDP property management system with the Citrix software installed, including:
Printing Type | Description |
---|---|
Windows Applications |
Windows applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel use "Windows Printing".
When a given ICA client logs on, Citrix automatically maps all windows printers for
that workstation. As a result, any Windows Application running on the Citrix server
can use the Windows printers on the workstation. Consult the Citrix documentation for details. |
RDP Crystal Reports |
Most RDP reports use Crystal Reports, enabling graphs, fonts, and greater
performance. Since Crystal Reports is a Windows Application, as long as Crystal is installed
correctly on the Citrix server, all RDP Crystal Reports can use any printer available to the
workstation using the ICA client. |
RDP-DOS | RDP-DOS printing works very well with Citrix and LOCAL printers.
A local printer is one physically connected to the workstation that uses the
ICA client for connecting to the remote Citrix server. It is also possible to use shared printers for RDP-DOS printing, however performance lags. As a result, RDP suggests the use of local printers for all front desk workstations using Citrix. Shared printing is described below. |
Slow Printing Fix | Please note that there is a setting in Windows 2000/2003 and Windows XP that causes
all RDP-DOS printing to be delayed by 15 seconds. This setting is easily
fixed. The fix is explained on the following page and must be applied to all
Windows 2000/2003 servers and workstations, as well as Windows XP workstations, even
if they do not use Citrix to access the RDP data server. |
LPT Ports Only | Please note that RDP-DOS printing only supports local printers connected via an LPT port with a parallel cable. It is not possible to use any printer connected to a COM port, a USB port, or an infrared port. Additionally, many new printers, such as the HP "all in one" series, do not support "DOS Printing" at all. Please make sure any printers you purchase support printing from a DOS application via an LPT port. |
By default, Citrix maps all client printers using the user configuration. These configuration settings can be viewed using the following steps:
RDP suggests that all customers use the 300+ Crystal Reports available in the RDP property management
system. Almost every RDP-DOS report has a Crystal equivalent that is faster, more reliable, and
contains more information. Additionally, all RDP Crystal Reports print to any printer on the
local network when using Citrix without any special installation or setup.
There are very few RDP programs that rely on DOS printing. One such program is folio
printing. When using Citrix, RDP suggests installing a laser printer on the LPT1 port
of each front desk workstations. Folios will then print very quickly, quietly, and with
high quality. Citrix automatically maps local printers and no special steps are required.
It is possible, but not recommended, to share a DOS printer in a Citrix environment.
Sharing a DOS printer from a remote location over Citrix is tricky because RDP uses the
"NET USE LPT1:" command from Microsoft to redirect the local LPT port to the shared printer.
This command does not work when connected to a Citrix server because the shared printers
available to the NET command are relative to the Citrix location, not the remote location.
However, it is possible to re-direct the output from LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, and LPT4 to a shared
printer, as long as the re-direction occurs before connecting to the Citrix
server, not after. Assume that a property has the following scenario:
Name of Remote Workstation #1: | Name1 |
Name of Remote Workstation Local Printer: | None “ No local printer on remote workstation #1 |
Name of Remote Workstation #2: | Name2 |
Name of Workstation #2's Shared Printer: | Printer2 (Connected to LPT1 on Name2) |
Use the following steps for redirecting a printer port using the Net Use command.
With Windows XP, Microsoft made a change that delays all DOS print jobs by 15 seconds. To accelerate printing, every computer using any version of Windows XP will need the changes described in the link below. This includes the Windows 2003 data server. If using Citrix or terminal services, the changes must also be implemented on the Windows 2003 server running Citrix/Terminal Services, as well as each workstation that uses the Windows XP operating system.
Links to documents related to printing with RDP
Microsoft added significant local security to
Windows XP. A user with minimal rights does not have access to
write files to the "C" drive or to re-direct printing to shared
network printers, both of which are required for RDP software to function
properly.
To solve this problem, each user
of a Windows 2000 or XP workstation must be
a member of the administrator group on the workstation, which gives the user
complete access and all rights for the local workstation.
Note: network security is not compromised, since the user must only be a
member of the local administrator group on
Windows XP workstations. All RDP users should not be a member of the domain
administrator group. To add a user to the local administrator group, see
the link below:
Support Home | RDPWin4 & PCI Compliance | Enhancement Requests | Open A Web Support Ticket |
---|---|---|---|
Training | New Sales Website | Old Sales Website | Contact Us |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |