Terminal Server Broker

[FN-GM]

Hi,

 

I am just reading this about Terminal Server Broker - Deploying a Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server Farm using TS Session Broker - Techotopia

 

I have 2 questions.

 

1. When this is configured do i point my thinclient to the Broker Server?
   
2. on the relative weight section, if i have 3 servers in a farm. All exactly the same, would i put for each server 33 (percentage) or 100?
   

Thanks

[strawberry]

1. nope, you point them to the farm name, dns then picks a server, the server consults session broker and gives the client instructions.

2. donesn't matter, if they're all the same then they'll all get the same amount of connections.

[joe90bass]

I'm not sure if Thinstation supports this, it didn't a few years back. May be worth checking, I meant to look into it over half term but ran out of time.

 

edit: I say this as you have been testing thinstation recently and assume you are planning on using it with this!

[FN-GM]

1. nope, you point them to the farm name, dns then picks a server, the server consults session broker and gives the client instructions.

2. donesn't matter, if they're all the same then they'll all get the same amount of connections.

 

Thanks. Understood :-)

 

I'm not sure if Thinstation supports this, it didn't a few years back. May be worth checking, I meant to look into it over half term but ran out of time.

 

edit: I say this as you have been testing thinstation recently and assume you are planning on using it with this!

 

On this setup there are no ThinStation clients, yet anyway. I might give it a test though in my test environment.

 

Cheers.

[JasonM]

Thanks. Understood :-)

 

 

 

On this setup there are no ThinStation clients, yet anyway. I might give it a test though in my test environment.

 

Cheers.

 

Hi,

 

If you want to use 2008 session broker with TS you need to include the rdesktopsvn package. It fixes several cursor issues, USB redirection issues and crashes when redirecting from one server to another.

 

I made the changes on an in-house linux distribution that we maintain internally, tested it for a few weeks, then back-ported the fixes into what became the rdesktopsvn package in TS in 222d in April 2010, then 222e and 222f. My changes have now been fully integrated into TS and Trevor now maintains the package since 222g (released today).

 

I also back-ported some hardware-based load balancing code that we use here into TS last year, though this is not in any of their mainstream builds yet.

For simpler/smaller installations this code can be used as a replacement for a dedicated 2008 broker.

 

Just drop me a line if you need any more info.

 

JasonM

[FN-GM]

Hi,

 

If you want to use 2008 session broker with TS you need to include the rdesktopsvn package. It fixes several cursor issues, USB redirection issues and crashes when redirecting from one server to another.

 

I made the changes on an in-house linux distribution that we maintain internally, tested it for a few weeks, then back-ported the fixes into what became the rdesktopsvn package in TS in 222d in April 2010, then 222e and 222f. My changes have now been fully integrated into TS and Trevor now maintains the package since 222g (released today).

 

I also back-ported some hardware-based load balancing code that we use here into TS last year, though this is not in any of their mainstream builds yet.

For simpler/smaller installations this code can be used as a replacement for a dedicated 2008 broker.

 

Just drop me a line if you need any more info.

 

JasonM

 

Thanks for the heads up! :-)

[FN-GM]

Quick question, did you make a dedicated server for the broker stuff or do you think its ok to put it on the licencing server?

 

Thanks

[JasonM]

Quick question, did you make a dedicated server for the broker stuff or do you think its ok to put it on the licencing server?

 

Thanks

 

It doesn't matter really.

 

Larger sites will often have a dedicated broker server, but in a smaller environment it is possible to have the broker installed on one of your ts boxes.

 

In a 3 server example where box1 is TS and Broker, and Boxes2 and 3 are just TS it wouldn't matter which server you hit first, they would just get redirected as necessary via the broker on Box1 (if required).

 

In summary:

- As long as you have a working broker, it doesn't matter which box it lives on.

- The broker role can be installed alongside the "normal" TS/RDS role.

 

JasonM

[FN-GM]

Thanks,

 

also on the relative weight, how would that be done correctly? I have googled this and a few different sites say do it differently.

 

For example if they are all the same spec do i use the figure 11 or 33?

If i have 2 higher spec servers the same and one lower would i do 35 - 35 - 30 that would make up the 100?

 

Thanks

Edited May 13, 2011 by FN-GM

[FN-GM]

Anyone please?

[strawberry]

its relative. if you give a server a weighting of 1 and another 2, then 2 will have twice the number of sessions than 1. same goes for 49 and 98. with 35,35 and 30 you would have 7,7,6 sessions per server.

 

if thats not helpful let me know and i'll give it another pop!

[SteveMC]

Should the current Thinstation build (222g) actually work fully with the Remote Desktop Session Broker in 2008 R2? We've got it to connect, but the user is always prompted twice for their logon credentials (once for the connection to the broker - in our case 'tsfarm.school.internal' and again when they're redirected to an actual Session Host such as 'ts03.school.internal').

 

Stephen

[FN-GM]

Should the current Thinstation build (222g) actually work fully with the Remote Desktop Session Broker in 2008 R2? We've got it to connect, but the user is always prompted twice for their logon credentials (once for the connection to the broker - in our case 'tsfarm.school.internal' and again when they're redirected to an actual Session Host such as 'ts03.school.internal').

 

Stephen

@SteveMC did you fix this.

 

Does anyone know if Broker Server works with ThinPC?

 

Thanks