The Component Enabler server-side deployment consists of a number of platform-specific Remote Access servers that handle communications between Component Enabler clients and applications. Remote Access clients and servers communicate, using RATL protocol running on TCP/IP. The RATL protocol is a simple wrapping of a standardized and extended set of NOF messages that provide all the functionality needed to support GUI forms. The RATL over Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 protocol is used for securing connections between the Component Enabler Clients and Servers. It also ensures that the server is authenticated by using server side certificate and the messages are encrypted between the client and the server.

Component Enabler clients establish normal sessions with applications through the Remote Access servers by using a TCP/IP connection. The Remote Access servers perform a number of checks, such as authenticating users and verifying the application exists, before granting the client access. The Remote Access servers then receive transaction requests from client programs over a TCP/IP connection and pass them to the application. Transaction responses from applications are passed back to the clients over the same TCP/IP connection. Remote Access servers can also pass back asynchronous messages, such as messages from reports, to a client application.

The Remote Access servers are designed to offer connectivity, throughput, and transit times comparable to terminal access to the applications on the same host systems. Each client application runs independently of all other clients, with its own connection back to the application server. There are no points of single threading or possible congestion in the transaction path to add overheads or reduce performance.