Client Drive Filter

This chapter describes how to configure and activate the Client Drive filter. In Remote Desktop environments, users are sometimes able to access local resources within the RD session. Access to the local drives is particularly important for Remote Desktop Services. Unfortunately, the finer points of this function cannot be adjusted as precisely as needed. Without NetMan Desktop Manager, you can only permit or block access to client drives in general, in the Windows Connection Settings of the Remote Desktop Session Host configuration. If it is not permitted by the settings in this dialog, access cannot be granted by any other method. For specific users you can specify in the user account whether they are allowed to access client drives. Prerequisite for this option is that access is enabled under Connection on the Client Settings page. In addition you can switch the allocation of on and off in the generally used RDP Client from Microsoft. This option is also offered by the NetMan Client. What all these solutions have in common is that they either block or permit all access. NetMan Desktop Manager enhances this mechanism by the addition of new functions: In NetMan Desktop Manager you can determine how you share local resources within sessions, based on any of the following criteria:

•Specific drives. Permit access only to specified drives within a session. The use of other drives on the workstations is blocked.

•Subdirectories. The drive itself is blocked, but access to one or more directories on the drive is allowed.

•"Read" access. Users have "read-only" access to the drives.

•"Write" access. Users have "read" and "write" access to the drives.

 

Another important function of the NetMan Desktop Manager Client Drive filter: You can modify access privileges in client drives at run time; in other words, your changes in current filter settings are effective immediately. This extended control of client drives is practically essential, for example, in information systems in which data from the session can be stored only locally by the user, and not on the Session Host.

The following chapters provide details on the Client Drive filter:

•The chapter entitled "Create a Client Drive Filter" describes how to create a Client Drive filter.

•"Edit a Client Drive Filter" provides details on editing an existing Client Drive filter.

•See "Activate the Client Drive Filter" for details on activating the Client Drive filter globally.