Upgrading Terminal Server

[Darylrese]

Hi Guys,

 

I currently have an old Terminal Server running 2003 R2 that staff use to work from home. Although it serves its purpose, it is fairly slow and needs upgrading.

 

Although i'd like to build up a Server 2012 R2 box, I fear my staff will not be able to get on with it due to the different interface. We didn't upgrade to Windows 8.1 for this very reason.

 

To keep it in line with the look of Windows 7 (and to stop my hair from going grey), I was thinking of replacing the Terminal Server with a new 2008 R2 RDP server.

 

If I create the server, install the remote desktop services role and give it the same IP address as the old one, will it work with existing settings? For example, staff access it by launching mstsc.exe and type in sername.myschool.com and login using domain credentials so I don't want to have to change this.

 

Hoping to just do a slight upgrade for now to buy us time for something better in a few years.

 

Already purchased the CAL's within the Microsoft Schools Agreement for remote desktop

 

Regards

[3s-gtech]

So you have a port open through your firewall to RDP straight in to it, with an external IP pointing at that box? If so, should be very easy to do, just like you say. I just put in a Server 2012 R2 box without Remote Desktop Gateway (we use RemoteSpark) and staff love it. They have gotten used to the Start Screen quickly, considering Windows 7 is our primary OS. Might be worth a trial, but 2008 R2 is a great OS anyway.

[Darylrese]

I 'inherited' it when I started at my current school just before last Christmas but yes I believe that's how its setup. I was just thinking of building a reasonably spec'd 2008 R2 box to do a direct replacement. Thinking if I keep the same IP, I shouldn't have to touch anything as the external IP should just point to the new box on the same IP.

 

Staff type in server.myschool.com into RDP and it connects straight in. Guessing if IP is same, the same credentials should still work?

 

Not heard of RemoteSpark...is it any good? Expensive?

 

I could try and get my staff used to 2012...I guess one day they will have to!

Edited March 12, 2015 by Darylrese

[xenonive]

I've looked at Guacamole which looks similar to RemoteSpark so would be interested how much and how you licence it.

[3s-gtech]

Yup, it *should* slot straight in, so long as RDP is listening on the same port. The default is 3389 - take a look at this to check it and as it suggests, get this changed if so How to change the Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Port

 

RemoteSpark is ace, IME. It's a HTML5 compatible RDP viewer - it just needs a web browser to view a RDP session. That means it's platform independent - will work on any modern browser, in Windows, OS X, Android, iOS, Chrome OS etc. A web facing server hosts the service that manages it all, but it's quite simple and doesn't put much load on it. You may for the max number of concurrent sessions that you're likely to have - we pay for 10 max which works out at $180 per year (exchange rate dependent) through Paypal. Not yet maxed out those 10 in a large-ish school. It also allows you to integrate your RD Services into a custom web portal, which we have done - gives extra security. Really, it may be extra cost that you don't need, but our staff appreciate being able to remote in on any device.

 

If you can build your new RD Services server as a VM (or even if you have a spare physical server), worth trying both OSs. You can just swap the IPs over to test and get feedback from staff.

 

I've looked at Guacamole which looks similar to RemoteSpark so would be interested how much and how you licence it.

 

We did look at Guacamole - looked excellent, but I couldn't get it to work. If you're more leet than me (which isn't hard) you should have more luck. I've found that RemoteSpark is easy to setup and use, and the support is very good. If funds are tight, there are cheaper solutions - as my time also costs money, it made sense to jib out!

Edited March 12, 2015 by 3s-gtech

[Darylrese]

It sounds great! Especially as we are going BYOD and more people are accessing tablets and apple devices these days! So its a RDP viewer like mstsc.exe or RDP app for ipad?

 

Was it easy to setup?

 

It will be a virtual server on HYPER-V.

 

I got a quote for a new remote desktop solution with server 2012 and remoteapps and the company wanted around £2500 just to install it. Also they said I needed to build 3 servers and install the different roles on different servers. They also mentioned 30GB+ for each VM which simply isn't do-able.

 

I only want around 10 concurrent connections too as we are a fairly small school (only 80 staff)

 

Would love RemoteApps but don't really know how hard it is to setup. Not something I have done before.

 

Just checked, it is listening on port 3389

Edited March 12, 2015 by Darylrese

[3s-gtech]

It's not an app - it's totally web based. No end user installation, just browse to the web facing server that hosts the service.

 

Pretty easy to setup, server needs Java and then it's just installed. The instructions are good. We have an in-house coder so we customised the user interface, but it's straightforward.

 

You can use Remote Apps too, if you set up Remote Desktop Web Access (easy). The wizard in 2012 R2 takes you through it.

 

3389 is a security concern, as it's the default port you may find that spammers and the like can attempt to hack or flood your domain by hitting that port!

[3s-gtech]

Also - £2500 and 3 servers is a bit much for your needs I think. It can be done for very little with some planning - a VM, CALs, Remote Spark or RD Gateway, and a day or so to build the server.

[wesleyw]

Theres always ulteo as well french based cheap to buy and maintain its a good system as it'll run linux and windows apps easily.