Installation Prerequisites for TS Session Broker

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

To participate in TS Session Broker Load Balancing, the following system requirements apply:

  • The TS Session Broker server and the terminal servers in the farm must be running Windows Server 2008. TS Session Broker is available in the following operating systems: Windows Server 2008 Standard, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter.

Note

Windows Server 2003-based terminal servers cannot use the TS Session Broker Load Balancing feature.

  • All terminal servers in the load-balanced farm must be configured identically, with the same available programs.

  • Client computers must be running Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) version 5.2 or later.

In addition, we recommend that you configure all terminal servers in the farm to restrict each user to a single session. To do this, use either of the following methods:

  • Configure the Restrict Terminal Services users to a single remote session Group Policy setting. This policy setting is available in the Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Terminal Services\Terminal Server\Connections node of the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) on a Windows Server 2008-based domain controller. It is a best practice to group the terminal servers that are in the same terminal server farm into a single organizational unit (OU), and then configure this policy setting in a Group Policy object (GPO) that applies to the OU.

Note

If you are using the Local Group Policy Editor, Policies is not part of the node path.

  • Configure the Restrict each user to a single session setting on each terminal server by using Terminal Services Configuration. This setting appears under Edit settings, in the General section.

TS Session Broker components

The following are two TS Session Broker components to consider:

  • TS Session Broker server, which is the server that runs the Terminal Services Session Broker service and tracks user sessions for one or more load-balanced terminal server farms. TS Session Broker uses a farm name to determine which servers are in the same terminal server farm.

  • Terminal servers that use TS Session Broker, which are load-balanced terminal servers that are members of a farm in TS Session Broker.