Conceptually, there are two contrasting approaches to management of PCs. Most of this report focuses on one of these approaches: installing applications on each local PC and centrally managing the configuration of Windows, the applications, and the data by using Active Directory, Group Policy, and IntelliMirror.

A second approach is to use a product such as Terminal Services to keep applications and data centralized on servers, and use the PC to provide a "window" to the execution of applications on the server.

However, Microsoft makes licensing of Terminal Services in this mode quite expensive. As a consequence, most organizations only make a subset of their applications available on a centralized server and use the other key feature of Terminal Services, Remote Administration, to connect to PCs to make changes or correct problems.

Terminal Services is a family of related technologies in Windows Server 2003, including Terminal Server, Remote Desktop for Administration, and Remote Assistance.

Terminal Server is the name of the Windows Server 2003 component that enables multiuser access to applications running on Windows Server. Terminal Server can reduce the administration costs of installing and maintaining applications on each PC, but PCs accessing this component must have a separate Terminal Server Client Access License (CAL), which is separate from the CAL required to access Windows Server 2003.

Remote Desktop for Administration, formerly named Terminal Services Remote Administration Mode, allows administrators to run as many as one console and two remote virtual sessions for the purpose of administering a server or Windows 2000 or XP Professional desktop. Remote Desktop for Administration is similar to Windows XP Professional's Remote Desktop feature and requires no CAL.

Remote Assistance, or Remote Administration Collaboration, is similar to Remote Assistance on Windows XP, which allows an experienced user or administrator to connect to and take control of a Windows XP PC, either to demonstrate how a feature should be used or to resolve a problem. Remote Assistance on Windows Server 2003 allows a Windows Server 2003 administrator to request assistance, and a help desk or another administrator can respond and take control of the server. Like Remote Desktop for Administration, Remote Assistance does not require a CAL.