Sizing Terminal Server hardware to support remote SIMS.net

[broc]

My new HT wants all staff to be able to access SIMS.net from home for reports, assessments etc. (Curriculum stuff, not FMS, Personnel etc). It has been suggested that VPN & Terminal Server is the way to go however I am struggling to find out what sort of 'typical' hardware setup I would require to host TS. I appreciate that this will depend upon the level of functionality, applications, numbers of concurrent users etc etc that are needed but I need a place to start! Has anyone any real-world examples of what works for them?

[Geoff]

If you give me a few weeks, I'll probably be able to tell you. However in the meantime I suggest you contact Ric. He has an extensive Citrix based Thin Client deployment.

[NetworkGeezer]

Didn't Ric do an intro guide to TS a while ago?

Just max out on memory and processor specs. According to GrumbleDook Assessment Manager is a memory hog.

Teachers being teachers there will be a lot feature creep until you replication much of the school admin environment.

[broc]

Just max out on memory and processor specs. According to GrumbleDook Assessment Manager is a memory hog.

Would I be better off with two dual core Xeon processors, or two quad core Xeon Processors?

Is TS more effective supporting more users with more 'cpus'?

[Ric_]

@broc: Processor usgae isn't usually the sticking point. RAM is the key. Citrix doesn't really make the most of more than two processors so quad core is probably a waste of money - you would be better off getting 2 lower spec machines than one uber-server. This also has the benefit of redundancy.

[broc]

@Ric

Thanks. Personally I have never come across a situation yet with MS operating systems where they gave anything more than a marginal gain for extra processors, I had hoped TS might be different

Obviously still nothing like IBM mainframe systems, with almost straight-line MP:UP ratios then?

If I go down the route of multiple servers as you suggest (which sounds like an excellent idea), how is load balancing achieved? Is it automatic or manual?

[Ric_]

@broc: Load balancing is where Citrix comes into its own. You can basically balance the servers on any 'metric' (i.e. processor load, memory usage, concurrent connections...) you like. Citrix then takes care of the rest for you.

What this means is that you don't need identical servers in your farm... you simply have lower maximum loads for the lower spec machines and balance on a metric like memory usage or CPU utilisation.