Understanding RDC

Previously known as Terminal Services Client or TS Client, RDC is a client application that runs on a computer that enables the computer to establish a Remote Desktop session with either a Remote Desktop Session Host or a computer running Windows that has Remote Desktop enabled. The RDC client is a feature that is installed by default and can be accessed either from the Start menu or by running Mstsc.exe.

In typical usage, a user at a remote location must connect to a private network before she can start a Remote Desktop session with a computer within the private network-typically by using a VPN connection to the target computer. When end-to-end network connectivity has been established between the user's computer and the host computer, the user can use the RDC client to open a Remote Desktop session that will provide an experience comparable to being interactively logged on at the local console of the host computer (depending on the available bandwidth of the network connection).

For more information on configuring and using the RDC client, see the section titled "Configuring and Deploying Remote Desktop Connection" later in this tutorial.

Note Newer versions of RDC have also been backported to earlier Windows platforms. For example, the RDC 6.1 client, which supports RDP 6.1, has been backported to Windows XP SP2. You can download selected versions of RDC for older Windows versions by searching for "Remote Desktop Connection" on the Microsoft Download Center at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/.