Hey everyone! I'm in a bit of a pickle and need your insights on how to set up multiple remote desktop sessions for my team. We have some third-party software that requires Windows, and it can run multiple times on different PCs as long as it connects to our server. Right now, we have a single PC dedicated for remote access, but it only allows one connection at a time, and we need at least four to accommodate our users who want to access the software from home.
I've been looking into a few options:
1. Getting Windows Server Standard 2022 or 2025 with 4 RDP Client Access Licenses (CALs) to allow four simultaneous sessions.
2. Thinstuff, but I'd still need Windows Server Standard to allow those four concurrent users.
3. JumpDesktop, which has a free tier but also requires Windows Server Standard for four active users.
Did I miss any options? What would you recommend?
1 Answer
Your options sound good! Windows Remote Desktop Services (RDS) would be ideal here. You can directly serve the application from the server, allowing up to four users to access it concurrently with the appropriate CALs. Users would connect securely via a URL, making it straightforward. You won’t even need extra tools since it's built into Windows Server.
But doesn't Windows Server come with some CALs already? I thought multiple users could connect at once without stepping on each other's toes. Is that still true?