TS 2003 Configuration advice

[moncho]

Looking to install a TS server for a client with about 40 users and need to
make sure
I have my head on straight.

This will just be a single member server since they currently do not have
any other
servers located at the office (no domain controller).

This server will run a Visual Foxpro 7.0 application and that is about it.
The DB will be used for
mostly data entry and printing multi page reports.

I plan to purchase the following server from Dell. I know that the server
below
may be overkill.

2600 Dual 3.06 GHz w 1MB Cache
4 GB RAM
RAID 1 (2X18GB 15K Ultra320 drives) OS + Pagefile (1 C: Partition)
RAID 5 (3X36GB 15K Ultra320 drives) Apps + Home Dirs + Database files (1 D:
Partition)

Windows 2003 with TS using Per Server Cals instead of Per User/Device.

Q
1. Should I make the Pagefile 4 Gig or go to 6 Gig?

2. Should I make two partitions on C: with 1 for the page file?

3. Can Group policies only be enforced if there is a Domain server?


Any coments or advice about the configuration would be greatly appreciated.

moncho

 

[Al]

Which version of Windows Server 2003 will you be running? The standard
version can only access 4GB of ram total. So if you add 4gb of physical ram
MS recommends that you only need a small pagefile of about 512MB.

I am running almost the same exact setup as you. Same server and also a DB
application written in Visual FoxPro, the only difference is that I have
about 25 users not 40. We have only been up and running for about 2 weeks
as a production system, but performance is just fine. I did make 2
partitions on my drive, one for apps and one for OS.

 

[moncho]

Which version of Windows Server 2003 will you be running? The standard
version can only access 4GB of ram total. So if you add 4gb of physical ram
MS recommends that you only need a small pagefile of about 512MB.

I was thinking about putting W2K3 Enterprise on because I have yet to figure
out if I would need to have the extra tools that come along with enterprise.

I am just wondering if there would come a time, with a single TS server,
that one
would need the Windows System Resource Manager? That is about the
only service that I think I could possible need that Enterprise offers that
is not
in Standard.

I am running almost the same exact setup as you. Same server and also a DB
application written in Visual FoxPro, the only difference is that I have
about 25 users not 40. We have only been up and running for about 2 weeks
as a production system, but performance is just fine. I did make 2
partitions on my drive, one for apps and one for OS.

Did you put the pagefile on a separate partion?

Are there any security changes that you made to handle how the users access
the VP data? (e.g. set NTFS permissions on data directories for individual
groups?).

Thanks for the info,

moncho

 

[Guest]

Things in EE that aren't in Standard, that are of interest to TS are WRM & Session Directory. Realisticly, it's less expensive to purchase a 3rd party resourse management package like Relevos from WMSoftware (or others listed on http://www.workthin.com/tsao.htm) and only use EE if necessary.

I'd rather spend my money on really good 3rd party apps (i.e. Citrix MetaFrame) than on EE for TS, and reserve EE for things like big SQL Server & Exchange boxes.

For optimal performance you can put the PF on a separate RAID1 array and at the same size as your physical memory when you have 4GB installed. If no separate spindles are available, then the system volume is fine.

You can lock down the server with a combination of NTFS permissions, GPO & Software Restriction Policies. Check here:
http://www.workthin.com/tshta.htm#LockingDownWindowsServer2003TerminalServerSessions

for NTFS Security:
C:\ - Administrators, System & Creator/Owner (Full Control), Authenticated Users (Read & Execute"
C:\Program Files " "

Good list here:
http://www.dabcc.com/thinsol/policies/docs/Sample Security Configuration.doc

Patrick Rouse
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://www.workthin.com

----- moncho wrote: -----

Which version of Windows Server 2003 will you be running? The standard
version can only access 4GB of ram total. So if you add 4gb of physical ram
MS recommends that you only need a small pagefile of about 512MB.

I was thinking about putting W2K3 Enterprise on because I have yet to figure
out if I would need to have the extra tools that come along with enterprise.

I am just wondering if there would come a time, with a single TS server,
that one
would need the Windows System Resource Manager? That is about the
only service that I think I could possible need that Enterprise offers that
is not
in Standard.

DB
application written in Visual FoxPro, the only difference is that I have
about 25 users not 40. We have only been up and running for about 2 weeks
as a production system, but performance is just fine. I did make 2
partitions on my drive, one for apps and one for OS.

Did you put the pagefile on a separate partion?

Are there any security changes that you made to handle how the users access
the VP data? (e.g. set NTFS permissions on data directories for individual
groups?).

Thanks for the info,

moncho