TERMINAL EMULATION

Definition - What does Terminal Emulation mean?

Terminal emulation is the ability to make a given computer appear like an actual terminal or
client computer networked to a server or mainframe. Today, this is often done via software to
access data or programs on the server or mainframe, which are usually only available to the
terminal being emulated.

Functions
Terminal emulation is often used to give PC users the ability to log on and get direct access to
legacy programs in a mainframe operating system. Terminal emulation requires installing a
special program in the PC or on a local area network (LAN) server to which it is connected.
 TERMINAL ADAPTOR

A terminal adapter or TA is a device that connects a terminal device – a computer, a mobile

communications device, or other – to a communications network.

Functions

A terminal adapter (TA) is a device that connects a computer to an integrated services digital
network (ISDN). The terminal adapter transmits digital data directly from the computer to the
ISDN line without having to modulate and demodulate between analog and digital signals.
 TERMINAL SERVER

A terminal server is a server or network device that enables connections to multiple client
systems to connect to a LAN network without using a modem or a network interface. Microsoft
introduced this concept by releasing terminal services as a part of the
Windows Server operating system

Function

A terminal server, also sometimes called a communication server, is a hardware device or

server that provides terminals, such as PCs, printers, and other devices, with a common
connection point to a local or wide area network (WAN). The terminals connect to the terminal
server from their RS-232C or RS-423 serial port. The other side of the terminal server connects
through network interface cards (NIC) to a local area network (LAN), usually an Ethernet or
token ring LAN, through modems to the dial-in/out WAN, or to an X.25 network or a 3270
gateway. (Different makes of terminal server offer different kinds of interconnection. Some can
be ordered in different configurations based on customer need.) The use of a terminal server
means that each terminal doesn't need its own network interface card or modem. The
connection resources inside the terminal server are usually shared dynamically by all attached
terminals.