When serving as an IT professional, Microsoft licensing rules can be the bane of your existence if you’re leveraging RDS. In this regard, it is essential that you get your licenses and policies straight from the word go.
Before the release of Windows Server 2008 R2 in 2009, if you used Terminal Services, now Remote Desktop Services, you had to buy Terminal Services licenses for Windows Terminal Server to meet licensing requirements for remote sessions.
But since the release of Windows Server 2008 R2, you have to comply with an RDS CALs license scheme based on the Remote Desktop (RD) Licensing role for Windows Server. This remains the same through the most current preview of Windows Server 2022.
For this reason, it is essential to have a better understanding of the requirements behind the RD Licensing policy and the different methods to calculate the number of licenses need to comply with RDS licensing terms and conditions.
What Are RDS CALs?
Before delving deeper in the realm of RDS CALs, it is best to know what they are and who needs to use them. In a nutshell, each active remote session on a server supporting the RD Sessions Host (RDSH) services role requires a single RDS Client Access License (CAL). Every prospective user needs a unique CAL to create a working remote session to any targeted RDSH server.
IT teams need to keep track of RDS CALs across any organization’s networks through the Windows Server Licensing role. That licensing role keeps track of CALs on a network and won’t allow more active sessions at any given time than the total number of CALs under its control.
How Does the RDS Licensing Model Work?
There are two key components that come into the foray with remote desktop access in a Microsoft RDS deployment aside from the CALS. They are the Remote Desktop Session Host and Licensing server. Having a clear insight into what they do and how they work can always work to your advantage.
For Windows Server 2008 R2 and later versions, the server role for RDS is called RDSH. For clients to have a remote server with which to establish a session, at least one internet-accessible host on the network needs to support the RDHS server role.
With RDS licensing, at least on RD Licensing server must also be available on your network. This is usually as part of the domain or domain forest in which the remote users reside. It is worth mentioning that a single physical or virtual server can support both the RDSH and the RD Licensing role services in smaller network deployments. When it comes to larger, more distributed network networks, these roles typically reside on different servers, often in different locations.
Even though the purpose for all RDS CAL is the same, there are different approaches to these licenses. Moreover RDS CALs come in two forms: RDS per-device CALs and RDS per-user CALs. Ensure you understand how these two to reap maximum benefits.
