RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol for Hosting)

E-invoicing in Germany: How to implement the obligation with SAP Business One

That Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is the network protocol developed by Microsoft, which allows users to access a remote Windows computer and operate its interface locally. In the SAP Business One environment, RDP is the standard access method for hosted B1 installations — such as with Cloudiax or on hosted Azure/AWS Windows servers — because the classic SAP B1 Windows client runs exclusively on Windows.

Context

The user connects to the hosted Windows server via an RDP client (mstsc.exe, Microsoft Remote Desktop, FreeRDP). The SAP B1 client runs locally on it, with access to the HANA or SQL database in the same network. Print jobs are either forwarded to local printers via built-in RDP print redirection or printed centrally to network printers. For DMS scenarios such as CKS.DMS, the archive database usually needs to be integrated into the SAP database so that backup and RDP access work together seamlessly. From a security perspective, RDP is almost always operated in production behind a VPN or zero-trust solution, with multi-factor authentication and Network Level Authentication; direct RDP port 3389 access from the Internet is considered vulnerable.

Demarcation

RDP is not a web protocol - unlike the SAP B1 Web Client or the Service Layer, it requires an installation clients and an accessible Windows host. It is also no substitute for modern web interfaces: The SAP B1 web client now covers many transactions on a browser basis; however, RDP remains relevant as long as certain form and add-on functions are only available in the Windows client. Compared to Citrix/VDI solutions, RDP offers less scalability and less profile isolation, but is simpler and available everywhere.