Until recently, I had never used screen. Now I love it! Screen is awesome.
In short, screen is a virtual terminal session that allows multiple windows within a single ssh session. It also maintains your session if you lose a connection.
start screen: $ screen to create a new window: cntrl-a c to exit a window: $ exit to switch windows: cntrl-a n (next) cntrl-a p (previous) help cntrl-a ? to detach your session from screen: cntrl-a d to find a screen session: $ screen -ls There is a screen on: 6173.pts-1.localhost (Detached) 1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-root. to reattach to a screen session: $ screen -r OR $ screen -r 6173.pts-1.localhost
http://www.rackaid.com/resources/linux-screen-tutorial-and-how-to/
http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_screen
http://linux.die.net/man/1/screen