Considerations of Terminal Services on a Server Cluster (294926)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition

This article was previously published under Q294926

SUMMARY

This article describes the factors to consider when you install Terminal Services on a server cluster.

MORE INFORMATION

Both Windows Clustering and Terminal Services can coexist on the same server. However, there are several factors to consider when you install Terminal Services on a server cluster. Server clustering does not fail over the information that is held in the local nodes memory (the random access memory [RAM]). In the event of a failover, all of this information memory is lost. This memory loss includes the Remote Desktop Connections from the client computers. You cannot fail over Terminal server sessions or their connections.

Even though Server Clustering and Terminal Services can coexist on the same server or node, they cannot be combined to expand the capability of your Terminal server to a high availability failover solution, because they are unaware of each other. In Windows 2000, you can install Terminal Services only in Remote Administrative mode on a server that has the Cluster service installed.

Note Terminal server Remote Administration mode permits a maximum of 2 connections. For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

216964 How to Administer a Server Cluster Remotely

232276 Drive Letter Not Visible After Assignment Change or Moving Disk

If you need to create a high availability Terminal server farm, Network Load Balancing may be the best solution. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

243523 Using Terminal Server with Windows Load Balancing Service


Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/22/2003
Keywords:kbClustering kbinfo w2000mscs KB294926