Terminal services and Virtualisation

[snakedoc]

Hi, I need to set-up terminal services on server 2003 so our linux boxes can login and gain access to microsoft apps, such as IE6/7/8 and Office. We currently use server 2003 to administer the widows roaming profiles but would like to add this. Has anyone got any experience setting this up? How does it cost for ten people to be logged in at once? I have had a look around the MS site and I cant really find any info on costs and what I need exactly.

Thanks for any help in advance.

[Vic]

Hi, I need to set-up terminal services on server 2003 so our linux boxes can login and gain access to microsoft apps, such as IE6/7/8 and Office.

The first thing I would say is that you should question whether or not you really need to do that; if Firefox will do the browsing, and OpenOffice the spreadsheets, you'll save yourself a bundle of cash.

That's not always possible, of course - but it ought to be investigated...


We currently use server 2003 to administer the widows roaming profiles but would like to add this. Has anyone got any experience setting this up?

I tend to use this for remote administration of Win boxes, rather than client apps - but it's much of a muchness. rdesktop is your friend. Make sure you've got the right ports open on any firewalls you might want to traverse (tcp/3389, IIRC).


How does it cost for ten people to be logged in at once? I have had a look around the MS site and I cant really find any info on costs and what I need exactly.

And now you're into Windows Server costs :-(

There are two ways to licence your systems - either per-user or per-device. You can mix & match, but that's even more of a headache to keep track of...

Whichever type of licencing you opt for, you need a CAL to match - so in your example, the easiest scenario would be to buy 10 user CALs and have one for each user. If you've got SBS, you get 5 CALs with it - which you have to designate as "user" or "device".

Oh - and it doesn't matter how many are logged-in at once; if you've got 10 employees logging in, and you're using per-user licencing, you need 10 CALs, even if you've only ever got one employee on-site at any one time.

Note that the CALs have to be for the right version of Server2003, or you might find you don't have sufficient licences for certain features (MS-SQL? That'll be the Premium edition, then). Note also that Server2003 isn't really available any more; I'm not sure whether Server2008 CALs can be used with Server2003 (haven't had to try that yet).

Your best bet is probably eBay - but be very careful what you're buying.

Vic.

[snakedoc]

Awesome thanks. I will need to read this through a study further. So can I get a bulk CAL for 10 users? Looks like we will be getting server 2008. My boss thinks this would be cheaper than buying ten vista/xp licenses with Office. This is what we mainly need it for. We are web devs and use mainly linux boxes but they need to test on Windows machines with ie 6/7/8 as firefox does behave differently to IE and we need to VIrtualise a windows enviroment.

[Vic]

So can I get a bulk CAL for 10 users?

You normally buy CALs in packs of 5.

Note that for your application, you'll need both a Server2003 CAL *and* a TS CAL for each uesr.


My boss thinks this would be cheaper than buying ten vista/xp licenses with Office.

It won't be.

You still need to buy a copy of Office for each user - and a full retail one, not an OEM.

For something that is technically so simple, this will end up being a very expensive solution. That's how Microsoft makes its money.


This is what we mainly need it for. We are web devs and use mainly linux boxes but they need to test on Windows machines with ie 6/7/8 as firefox does behave differently to IE and we need to VIrtualise a windows enviroment.

I would look into running a local installation of Windows - either dual-booted or in a virtualised environment (Xen/KVM/Virtualbox/VMWare to taste).

Vic.