1

HI,

We have a Windows Server 2012 R2, and want 4 users to simultaneously remotely login to server.

I understand that we need to purchase CAL’s but i am very confused, if we need

  1. Separate User CALs and separate RDS User CAL

  2. we don’t need User CAL’s but only need RDS User CAL

Any help on this would be great, Thanks.

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2

Each user will need both a User CAL and an RDS CAL - you may also need to enable the RDS role on the server they will all be logging in to as I think by default it will only allow 2 concurrent sessions so if a 3rd user attempts to login they will be prompted to forcible log one of the others out - once you install the RDS role you then need an RDS License Server running somewhere (doesn’t have to be the same server they are logging in to), as this will store your RDS licenses and assign them to users as they login.

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Thanks @nickc ​ for your reply, its very helpful. Sorry a few more questions

  1. Is it possible that we have the same server as the RDS License Server.

  2. I tried to find where i can buy both User CAL + RDS CAL but so far i only see i can but RDS CAL here, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windows-server-remote-desktop-services-cal/DG7GMGF0DVSV/000N?atc=true

Do you know where I can buy both?

Thanks in Advance

4

The RDS License Server can run anywhere, it is just a very small service and barely takes up any resources.

To buy the licenses I would recommend speaking to a VAR (think like CDW, Insight etc. for the USA) as they will be able to assist with both understanding what you are trying to do and then translating it into the right licenses, since you would be buying more than 5 licenses in total it might make sense to purchase them under a Volume License Agreement as this will make manageing them and purchasing additional licenses in the future much easier - any VAR you speak to will be able to advise you on this.

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To purchase your needed CAL;s I would look to @kelly-for-trusted-tech-team ​. They have great knowledge and great pricing

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The licensing answers above are correct (you need both types of CALs) but if you don’t mind me asking - why do you want these people to remote into your Server? Generally speaking that’s to be avoided unless you are doing some kind of RDS environment, which didn’t seem to be part of your plan.

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Correct, but it should also be noted that those two connections are for administering the server; users logging into the server to work in RDS sessions other than admin purposes are required to have RDS CAL’s.

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Thanks @nickc ​, this is very helpfull and clear my confusion.

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Hi @larryg-profile ​, we have RDS environment hence needs multiple users to simultaneously login.

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I see. That wasn’t clear from you initial post.

Another thing to keep in mind, for Server CALs. If your users already have Server CALs they don’t need another Server CAL if they are going to use RDS. In that case they would just need an RDS CAL.

So, if you have 20 users and 20 Server CALs already and now want 4 people to use your RDS Server, you would need 4 new RDS CALs.

But if you are adding 4 new users that have never had any kind of CAL you would need 4 Server and 4 RDS CALs for them.

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Thanks @larryg-profile ​ for reply definitely helpfull.

We currently, have 4 users, but only 2 are able to login remotely using Microsoft Remote Desktop Application, if another user has to login someone from earlier 2 users has to logout which is not nice.

We want to allow at-least 4 Users to login simultaneously to the server.

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So… this is a different issue altogether. You are confusing technical problems with licensing problems.

  1. Licensing - For ANY USER to use RDS for any reason other than admin use they need an RDS CAL. Even if it’s just one.

  2. Technical - for more than two concurrent connections to Windows Server you need to properly configure RDS

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We don’t always need to perform Administrative tasks. So, we have a Administrator user account for that. But there are other users who need to Remotely access the server and use / run application based on the work they are doing.

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Right. And for proper licensing, for every one of those people, you need an RDS CAL. Even if there’s just one of them connecting. It isn’t about how many are connecting at the same time, it’s about any user that connects to use an RDS Server.

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Thanks for the shout-out @henrystarcher9911 ! You rock, per usual.

OP - Licensing can get pretty confusing depending on the situation, so I highly recommend chatting with our team for a bit more clarity. If this is the first you’ve heard of TTT, here’s a little about us ! Here’s our contact info here , as well.