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Remote Session Services with X Manager for Domains

How do I get to this dialog box?

From X Manager for Domains

  1. In X Manager for Domains, under Session Definitions on the left, select a session definition.

  2. In the Session Definition pane on the right, click the General tab.

From the Administrative Console

  1. In the Administrative Console, click the Domain Definitions tab.

  2. Under Session Definitions on the left, select a session definition.

  3. In the Session Definition pane on the right, click the General tab.

Remote session services options are available from X Manager for Domains and from the Administrative Console. Use these settings to manage session persistence and to improve performance in high latency networks.

note

  • The default Remote session services setting is None. To use any of the other Remote Session Services features, you must be connected to a domain with at least one domain node available.

  • When you exit X Manager for Domains, your currently running sessions may stop or they may continue to run as suspended sessions. What happens depends on your setting for Remote Session Services, your setting for On exiting X Manager, and whether or not you leave the session before you exit X Manager for Domains. For example, if Remote Session Services = Session/suspend resume, On exiting X Manager = Stop all sessions, and you exit X Manager for Domains with a session window still open, Reflection X automatically stops the session. If On exiting X Manager = Leave all sessions if possible and you exit X Manager for Domains with a session window still open, or with a session suspended, the session continues to run as a suspended session.

  • When Remote session services is set to anything other than None, the client connector (which is responsible for launching X clients) runs on a domain node. If you specify "localhost" for Host name in a client definition that uses this session, the host name resolves to the machine on which the domain node is running, and the specified command is executed on that domain node. You can use this approach to start X clients on the same node as a running session.

The options are:

None

With this option, your session remains available as long as X Manager for Domains is running.

How it works:

The protocol router and X server run on the X Manager for Domains workstation. You can leave and rejoin the session as long as X Manager for Domains is running, but the session always ends when you close X Manager for Domains.

Session suspend/resume

Use this option to be able to rejoin a session even after you close X Manager for Domains and shut down your workstation. (With this configuration, your session does not persist if your workstation shuts down unexpectedly.)

How it works:

The protocol router runs on a remote domain node and creates an X server display on the X Manager for Domains workstation. When you leave the session or close X Manager for Domains, the X server display closes and a headless X server is created on the domain node. The headless server maintains your session. You can log back into the domain from any computer with access to the domain and rejoin the session.

Session suspend/resume; High-latency network performance

Use this option to improve performance when you connect to an X client over a high-latency network (typically one in which your X Manager for Domains workstation is located far from the X client host computer).

How it works:

The protocol router runs on a remote domain node. Reflection X measures the latency of your network connection to determine whether or not to create a headless X server on the domain node.

  • If the delay is small (less than or equal to 10 ms), an X server display is created on the X Manager workstation and all protocol is forwarded directly from the protocol router to this X server display.

  • If the delay is greater than 10 ms, an X server display is created on the X Manager workstation and a headless X server is created with the protocol router. By short circuiting many protocol queries, this configuration reduces the number of round trips and the amount of data that needs to pass over the network to the X server display on your workstation.

  • Reflection X remeasures latency periodically to detect changing network performance. If a headless X server is running, it will be discarded if the latency drops below 5 ms, and reinstated if latency rises again above 10ms.

Session suspend/resume; High-latency network performance; Network fault tolerance

Use this option to ensure that your session remains running even in the event that your workstation shuts down unexpectedly. You can also configure an automatic shutdown after being suspended for a specified time.

How it works:

The protocol router runs on a remote domain node and Reflection X always creates a headless X server on the domain node in addition to the X server display that runs on your workstation.

Stop suspended session after <n> minutes Use this option to shut down the session automatically if it has been suspended for the specified time without being rejoined. This setting applies if the session is suspended because of an unexpected shutdown, and also if you suspend the session by selecting Leave in response to the Confirm Exit prompt. This option is not available when Remote session services is set to None.

Compression

Select whether to compress the X protocol that passes between the domain node and your workstation.

  • Never may improve performance if bandwidth is less limiting than CPU or memory.

  • Dynamic enables compression only when the bandwidth is low enough to affect performance. With this option selected, Reflection X measures the bandwidth of data traveling from the protocol router to each remote X server and automatically compresses the protocol when the bandwidth is low.

  • Always is the default. This may provide better performance where CPU and memory resources are less limiting than bandwidth.

You can control the level of compression with the slider control. Higher levels of compression improve performance but also reduce quality.

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In most cases, the default compression level provides the best balance of performance and quality.

More information