In the September '07 issue we prom¬ised to do a series on the upcoming Windows Server 2008, code named Longhorn, and take you through a new feature every month after we've actually worked on it. That time has finally come, and this month, we're starting with 'not' one, but two exciting new features in Windows Server 2008.

The feature we're going to cover in this article is remote application streaming. However, before we get into this feature, there's some good news:

MS has released Windows Server 2008 RCO this month. With this release, the long-awaited first public beta of Mi¬crosoft's Hypervisor is also out. So in a separate article, we're going to tell you all about the new Hypervisor.

Remote App Streaming Application Streaming, is not new, but it's not too old either. Citrix Presenta¬tion Server provides the same on Win¬dows Platform. But that is a third party software, which you need to purchase separately.
Windows Server 2008 has the ap¬plication streaming feature built in. Before we go further and see how to install and use it, let's first understand what is Remote App Streaming.
Streaming refers to accessing data or files before it has completely downloaded or landed on your local machine. The common term which most of us are familiar with is media (music and video) streaming. Here you listen or watch a me¬dia file without having the file locally on your machine.
Similarly. when we say application streaming, we mean running a file or an app without installing or having it on your local machine. The app resides on a server and executes utilizing the re¬sources of server. All you're accessing is the display of that app on your terminal.

The benefits of application streaming are plenty. You can have a single copy of app and stream it across to hundreds of users. The users on the other hand can access the app from anywhere using any machine. The mgmt becomes easier as the admin has to manage. update. and se¬cure a single copy of the app residing on the server.

Another good thing about such a method of app delivery is that it uses reof the server and you don't have to upgrade all nodes or desktops in case you are upgrading one app whose system requirements do not meet the require¬ment of the desktops.

Pre- Requisites
There aren't too many pre-requisites to test App Streaming. A machine with de¬cent processing capability and a good amount of RAM is sufficient. We installed it on a Core 2 Duo Extreme 3.0 machine with 2 GB RAM. The machine should be connected over the network so that a node can connect to it and access the streamed app. We used a standard 100 Mbps net¬work for this. The version of Windows Server 2008 used was the latest RCO re¬lease.1t is available for download from Mi¬crosoft's website.
The client can be any machine run¬ning on Windows XP, 2000, 2003, Vista, or Longhorn Server. But the only prereq¬uisite is that it should have Remote Desktop Client version 6.0 installed. Longhorn and Vista come preloaded with ROC 6.0 but for WinXP. Win2000, and Win 2003, you have to download and install it from

Installation
This is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is add the Terminal Server Role to your Windows Server 2008 and install the Remote App functionality. To do so, first open the Server Manager Console from Ad¬ministrative Tools and click on the Roles option at the left pane of the window. Now from the main window click on the 'Add Roles' link. It will open up a wizard. Click on 'Next' once and it will show you all the possible 17/18 Roles available with Win¬dows Server 2008. Check the 'Terminal Services' role and continue the wizard.
After clicking a few more 'Next' buttons you will land to a screen where you will be asked to select a 'Role Service' for the terminal service role. Select on 'Termi¬nal Services.' Now again continue with the wizard till you are asked to specify an au¬thentication method for your Terminal Services. If it is for a test setup (which most likely will be the case) select the second option which says 'Do not require Network Level Authentication.' Now continue pressing Next till you get a summary page which asks you to confer and start the in stallation. Click on the Install button and let it finish. With this believe it or not your App Streaming Server setup is done.

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Streaming an Application
As your Streaming server is installed, now share an app for streaming. We tried it out with two apps. One was the good old WordPad and the other Adobe Photoshop 7, both worked flawlessly.
Adding a new app for streaming is also a very simple process. All you have to do is first install the app (which you want to stream) on the server. Then go to Adminis¬trative Tools>Terminal Services and start the 'TS RemoteApp Manager' console. Click on the 'Add RemoteApp Program' link. A wizard opens up. click on Next on the first page and it will list down all the in-stalled apps on the server. Select all the apps you want to stream and click Next. Two more clicks and the wizard finishes.

Now. at the bottom of the 'RemoteApp Manager' console a new table appears. Here you will see all the apps selected for streaming. Click on them one by one. A new list appears at the right end of con¬sole. Here you will notice two links 'Creat .rdp file' and 'Create Windows Installer Package.' Clicking on any of these starts the wizard. Depending on the link you have clicked. at the end of the wizard an .msi or an .rdp file get generated. Now you can copy these files to any client machine. Here the .rdp file is adirect shortcut to connect to the Streamed app whereas .msi file is an installer which installs the .rdp file to the program files of the client machine. The benefit of the .msi file is that you can do a remote deployment of the .rdp file to all the machines at a go.
Once done. click on .rdp file. It first asks for authentication and then con¬nects and opens the streamed app from any machine on the network running on any Windows OS and terminal server client 6.0. When the app starts, it's very difficult to explore if it's running locally or from any remote machine.