You
installed the TS Session Broker role service earlier. This server will
be the one that is used to track user sessions within the load-balanced
farm. However, there are still a few steps needed to create a
load-balanced environment. To begin with, session load balancing is
supported only on terminal servers that are running Windows Server
2008, so all members of this group must be running Windows Server 2008.
Follow these steps to complete the configuration:
1. | Add each terminal server for the load-balanced farm to the Session Directory Computers local group.
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2. | Configure DNS round-robin entries for all the terminal servers participating in the farm. Here’s an example:
• | TS_FARM_1 | host (a) | 192.168.0.50 | • | TS_FARM_1 | host (a) | 192.168.0.51 | • | TS_FARM_1 | host (a) | 192.168.0.52 |
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3. | Configure
terminal servers in the farm to join a farm in the TS Session Broker.
This step is covered in detail later in this chapter.
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Configure Terminal Services
With
all the installation and configuration you have done so far, you feel
pretty well set for Terminal Services. However, this section could
actually be accurately called “Terminal Services Client Configuration.”
It differs from the initial setup you have done so far in that this
management snap-in concentrates on the configuration of user settings.
To configure Terminal Services, follow these steps:
1. | In the Terminal Services management snap-in, expand the Terminal Services Configuration.
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2. | An RDP-Tcp connection was created upon installation (see Figure 1).
From the Actions pane, create a new connection: Highlight the current
RDP-Tcp connection and click twice to bring up the properties page,
which has eight tabs for configuration.
- General:
This tab shows the connection type (RDP-TCP) and transport method
(tcp).You can include a comment for the connection. In the Security
section, you can choose the security layer and encryption level, you
can choose to allow only connections from computers running Remote
Desktop with Network Level Authentication, and you can select an SSL
certificate.
- Log On Settings:
In this tab, you choose how clients log on. You can specify that they
can use client-provided information or a fixed set of credentials (not
recommended). You can also choose to always prompt for a password.
- Sessions:
You use this tab to set Terminal Services timeout and reconnection
settings for the client. If you choose nothing, the server defaults to
the user’s Active Directory session settings. You can override the user
settings for disconnected and active sessions. You can also override
user settings for how Terminal Services reacts when a session limit is
reached or a connection is broken.
- Environment:
You can allow or disallow an initial program to be launched when a user
logs on. You can also choose to start a particular program when the
user logs on.
- Remote Control:
This tab features settings for remotely viewing or controlling user
sessions. You can use remote control with default user settings (taken
from Active Directory), disallow remote control, or use custom settings
such as requiring user permission and the level of remote control
allowed (view or interact).
- Client Settings:
These settings can limit the maximum color depth. These setting
override the Remote Desktop client settings for color depth. You can
also choose to disable redirection of individual devices for this
connection.
- Network Adapter:
You can choose the network adapters to use for connection to this
terminal server. You can choose all adapters configured with this
protocol or select particular adapters to use. You can also choose to
allow unlimited connection or to set connection limits.
- Security:
This tab is the security principals that have permissions to this
terminal server. You can view, add, and remove users or groups who have
access and modify permissions.
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Below
the connections section are the terminal server settings, which
directly affect the performance of the terminal server. They are broken
down into three sections. You can highlight any item under Edit
Settings and double-click any setting to bring up the properties page.
There are three tabs here:
General: For best results, you should leave all three boxes checked:
Delete Temporary Folders upon Exit
Use Temporary Folders per Session
Restrict Each User to a Single Session
These are the user logon mode settings:
Licensing: Specify the licensing mode:
Not Yet Configured
Per Device
Per User
And the licensing discovery mode:
You
can add multiple licensing servers, separated by commas, and even check
license server names. If licensing servers are specified, the terminal
server attempts to locate them first. If they are unreachable, it uses
automatic discovery.
TS Session Broker: In this tab, you add connections to a TS Session Broker farm by configuring the following:
Join a Farm in TS Session Broker. (This must be checked to activate the other fields.)
Insert the TS Session Broker name or IP address in this dialog box.
Insert the farm name for the TS Session Broker.
Click this box to participate in Session Broker load balancing.
Choose the relative weight of this server.
Click this next box to use IP address redirection (recommended).
Finally,
you can select the IP addresses to be used for reconnection. Clients
running Remote Desktop 5.2 or earlier will only use the first IP
address in this list for reconnection.