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Reflection X Advantage is an X server that allows you to view your UNIX desktop and work with X client applications from a remote workstation. Reflection X Advantage provides two modes of operation—Standalone mode and Domain mode.
Standalone mode is provided by a single application—X Manager, which is installed by default. For users of earlier Reflection X products, Reflection X Advantage in standalone mode will be familiar territory: a bulletproof X server that provides reliable, seamless access to your mission-critical X applications.
Domain mode offers all the functionality of standalone mode and complements that power with additional features that help enhance productivity without increasing costs. Domain mode consists of multiple components—X Manager for Domains, the X Administrative Console, and the Reflection X Service. These features are not installed by default; and different systems within the domain require different components.
Whichever mode you choose, you'll have access to the following features:
Multiple platform support: Using Reflection X Advantage, users can access X hosts and applications from a broader-than-ever array of desktop environments, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX.
Real-time collaboration: The session sharing features in Reflection X Advantage allow colleagues to look at the same applications concurrently, and even transfer control of the session from one user to another.
Improved performance options: Using Reflection X Advantage, you can address problems with low bandwidth or high latency connections using remote session services. When you configure distributed Reflection X Advantage sessions, only the protocol required to update the display is sent over the network. This results in dramatically improved performance where high latency is a problem. Where low bandwidth is a problem, Reflection X Advantage automatically compresses the protocol sent to remote X servers.
Fully-integrated Secure Shell with FIPS 140-2 validation support: With Reflection X Advantage, you get a single-vendor security solution that is integrated with the X server.
X11 Extension Support: Reflection X Advantage provides support for key X11 extensions including GLX, Render, Damage, Shape, and XFixes.
Native IME support for input of double-byte characters: Native IME support lets you use your workstation's input method editor (IME) to compose characters (including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese). The X11 Input Method (XIM) server provided by Reflection X Advantage obtains the composed text from your IME and passes it to XIM-aware clients. This means that you can work with varied X clients without having to learn new input techniques.
X.509 certificate authentication: Secure Shell connections require both user and host authentication. In addition to supporting standard options for user authentication (passwords and public keys), Reflection X Advantage also supports authentication using X.509 certificates. Certificates can be stored in the Reflection X Advantage Store, a local directory, the Windows Certificate Store, or on a Smart card or similar device. Also, by downloading and installing Reflection PKI Services Manager, you can configure Reflection X Advantage to authenticate hosts that present X.509 certificates. Reflection PKI Services Manager is available at no additional charge.
Additional features available in Domain mode include:
Centralized session configuration: Reflection X Advantage domain features can help simplify session setup for end users. Administrators can create and maintain client and session definitions in a single centralized location and provide users with access to these definitions. Users can get started quickly using these centrally configured sessions, and can also create and configure individual sessions on their own workstations.
Flexible, instant access to an established session from the office, at home, or on the road: Leave a running session from one location and rejoin the same session from another location. No time is spent on reestablishing the client connection.
Session protection: When you run a distributed session, you can use fault tolerance to safeguard against losing the session. This option enables you to return to your work exactly where you left it, even after a network or hardware failure.
Domain authentication services: Leverage your current authentication process to provide Reflection X Advantage domain authentication. Use any of these authentication methods: Windows, PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules), LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), and Reflection X Internal.
Load balancing: In a distributed session environment, Reflection X Advantage is installed on more than one computer, and sessions can run on multiple domain nodes. When a user initiates a session, the session is run on the least-loaded domain node.