How do I keep an RDP session alive from the client side?

You can try to enable RDP keep alive functionnality in the registry:

In regedit.exe as admin:

1. Go to the location HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
2. Create or edit the DWORD value of KeepAliveEnable
3. Set it to 1.
4. Save and quit

Otherwise, try talking to the IT at your job to change this:

There's 2 settings for that in Win Server 2008 under Remote Desktop Services Sessions:

• Active session limit
• Idle session limit

Active session limit

Specify the maximum amount of time that the user's Remote Desktop Services session can be active before the session is automatically disconnected or ended.

The user receives a warning two minutes before the Remote Desktop Services session is disconnected or ended, which allows the user to save open files and close programs.

Idle session limit

Specify the maximum amount of time that an active Remote Desktop Services session can be idle (without user input) before the session is automatically disconnected or ended.

The user receives a warning two minutes before the session is disconnected or ended, which allows the user to press a key or move the mouse to keep the session active.

See : Configure Timeout and Reconnection Settings for Remote Desktop Services Sessions

Another option is to edit this registry value:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• Software => Microsoft => Terminal Server Client
• DWORD
• RemoteDesktop_SuppressWhenMinimized
• Set the value to 2