Remote Desktop Protocol
In a Windows environment, Terminal Services provides a way for a client system to connect to a server, such as Windows server 2000/2003, and by using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) run programs on the server as if they were local client applications. Such a configuration is known as thin client computing, whereby client systems use the resources of the server instead of their local processing power.
Originally, Terminal Services was available in remote administration mode or application server mode. Today, in Windows Server 2003, Terminal Services remote administration mode is no more as it has been replaced with the Remote Desktop feature.
Windows Server 2003 and XP Professional have built-in support for Remote Desktop Connections. The underlying protocol used to manage the connection is RDP. RDP is a low bandwidth protocol used to send mouse movements, keystrokes, and bitmap images of the screen on the server to the client computer. RDP does not actually send data over the connectiononly screenshots and client keystrokes.