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I have a server which allows only 2 connection at the same time. This can be a pain as you can't login if you are third. In another instance (if I remember correctly), the maximum allowed was 5 users.

Does allowing more users to simultaneously access the server a bad idea, does it slows down the server and does it has any other draw backs.

Note that in my case, the server is not really high end. But what if the server was fast enough lets say Quad core with 8GB+ RAM. How many simultaneous users should be allowed in that case.

Edit : The server is local server which is also acting as webserver. It also keeps corporate data on a network drive or on harddisk itself. I am talking about remote desktop connections.

TheTechGuy
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    Maybe you could tell us what type of connections you're making to the server. RDP? Files? Printers? Web services? Etc. – joeqwerty Nov 17 '11 at 15:14
  • Remote Desktop Connections – TheTechGuy Nov 17 '11 at 15:23
  • What is the operating system of the server? – SpacemanSpiff Nov 17 '11 at 15:25
  • I have windows-server-2003 but I am asking this in general. I am not asking about limitation, just what is reasonable number, does a higher number really slow the server down? – TheTechGuy Nov 17 '11 at 15:28
  • Every RDP session takes resources. Every program run by every user (RDP session) also takes resources. "Reasonable number" depends on what the users are doing. Email is one thing but if you say throw Excel users building huge pivot tables into the mix while someone else fires up mapping/GIS software then you are suddenly hurting for RAM. The guidelines you want are based on the applications being run times the number of users. – Top__Hat Nov 17 '11 at 15:39

1 Answers1

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Remote Desktop for Administration is limited to 2 simultaneuous RDP connections. If you want more then two simultaneous RDP connections then you'll need to install Terminal Services, Terminal Services licensing, and purchase and install TS CAL's.

To address your performance question:

More user sessions (RDP) consume more resources, so it is possible that having more RDP sessions could slow the server down, but it's not probable if you have a small number of user sessions and the server has adequate CPU and memory. How much is adequate depends on what other functions the server performs and how much resources the RDP sessions consume.

joeqwerty
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