Want to get started but have some serious questions.

[Craig Meritz]

I need to get an application that I know is compatible
with Terminal Services so a remote user can VPN into the
network and run the application via terminal services and
then will be able to print at the remote location. My
questions are as follows:

1. All of the clients (5 max) are Win2K or XP. Do I still
need to set up a License server since all of the clients
have terminal server licenses included with the OS?

2. The application is on a Cluster Server in Failover
mode. The Data is on the Shared array, but the SQL engine
(not MSSQL) is on the C drive of each node. Can I still
set this up in this kind of cluster server environment?

3. If 2 is no, can I set up the terminal server on a
different server, even though the server that is
serviceing the application is on the other (cluster)
server?

4. What is the best reference document for instructions on
how to set Terminal Server up for applications?

 

[Matthew Harris [MVP]]

answers are inline...

-----Original Message-----

1. All of the clients (5 max) are Win2K or XP. Do I still
need to set up a License server since all of the clients
have terminal server licenses included with the OS?

You always need to have a license server on your network
that is activated. And technically, no Microsoft OS
includes TSCALs; it is just that the terminal services
licensing service will automatically issue Windows 2000
Pro and XP Pro a 'free' license from its 'free' license
pool. You don't have to pay for these licenses, but you
still need the activated license server to properly give
out the free licenses.

2. The application is on a Cluster Server in Failover
mode. The Data is on the Shared array, but the SQL engine
(not MSSQL) is on the C drive of each node. Can I still
set this up in this kind of cluster server environment?

I guess this all depends upon the application(s) that you
are running. My only fear is that because terminal
services is loaded on the same server as a SQL engine is,
you are going to have some resource contention, at least
to some extent. If you have more TS users logging in or
you have a higher load of SQl queries to run, the server
is going to have to prioritize who or what gets the most
CPU cycles. In the end, you'll most likely see degraded
performance on both the SQL and TS side.

3. If 2 is no, can I set up the terminal server on a
different server, even though the server that is
serviceing the application is on the other (cluster)
server?

Yes, you can do this. What many people do is to put the
front end of their application on the terminal server, and
then separate the backend (SQL) portion of their
application onto a different server. The two servers can
connect over a network, so they work well and you don't
have to worry about resource contention.

4. What is the best reference document for instructions on
how to set Terminal Server up for applications?

I would go get some books and read up a little bit. I
found that Harwood's and Mather's terminal services books
were quite useful. However, in the end, I would just
encourage you to load up a server and experiment. If you
break it, then just reformat and try again.

-M