|
USENIX Technical Program - Abstract - Windows NT Symposium 99
Evaluating Windows NT Terminal Server Performance
Alexander Ya-li Wong and Margo Seltzer, Harvard University, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Abstract
With the introduction of Windows NT, Terminal Server Edition (TSE),
Microsoft finally brings to Windows the ``thin-client'' computing
model the X Window System has offered Unix for a decade. TSE's two
most salient features are the provision of multi-user login service
and the provision of that service remotely, over a network link. These
features distinguish TSE from previous Microsoft operating systems not
only by functionality, but also by how its performance ought to be
measured. Because TSE's primary service is interactive, user-perceived
latency is more important than ever. In this paper, we examine the
resource consumption and latency characteristics of shared usage on a
TSE system. We find that the introduction of remote, multi-user access
has added to the minimal level of resource consumption, that the
efficiency of TSE's RDP protocol is generally good but degrades on
dynamic user interface elements, and that TSE can exhibit poor latency
performance when subjected to high processor, memory, and network
load.
|
Need help? Use our Contacts page.
Technical Program