Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop 1 User CAL

Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop 1 User CAL

Licensing Requirements

Once the licensing grace period is passed, you must have a license for each connecting user or device to connect to an RD Session Host server. Youll also needs to install an RD Licensing server. You can install the RD Licensing role service on the same server the service isn't very demanding or on a separate server.

Youll need to purchase RDS Client Access Licenses (CALs) and install them on the RD Licensing server. These RDS CALs are tied to the server, but RDS lets you move them to new hardware if needed. Remember that RDS supports both per-user and per-device licensing. The model you choose should depend on whether you have more users or computers. RDS does not have concurrent-user licensing, and the licenses you choose must match the mode for which you configure the RD Session Host server.

Install the RD Licensing role service just as you did the RD Session Host role service. Then you must:

• Activate the RD Licensing server
• Install RDS CALs so the RD Licensing server can allocate them to users and devices
• Tell the RD Session Host server to use the RD Licensing server (you must do this even if the two role services are located on the same machine)

You can virtualize an RD Session Host server, but you'll likely see a reduction in the number of simultaneous sessions it can support. Be sure to model on the same machine type (physical or virtual) you intend to use. If you do build a virtual RD Session Host server, you should probably use a server with a processor supporting second-level address translation (SLAT) to reduce the overhead of memory mapping between the physical machine and the VMs. To reduce overhead, its also advisable to use a Type 1 hypervisor like Hyper-V, not a Type 2.