Are terminal server licenses required to...?

[gusbrunston]

[tt][highlight]Goal:[/highlight]
Give (5) users on LAN capability to use applications installed on server at the same time. That is, upgrade applications on server only.

[highlight]Currently:[/highlight]
Using a peer-to-peer LAN with one machine acting as a file server. Each user has Ms Access "front end" linked to "back end" tables on the "server". Upgrading MS Office on each machine is expensive, and requires frequent installation of lastest version of the "front end" on each box.

Also only two users have Quickbooks installed--others have to "borrow" one of those two PCs.

LAN is accessed by one user using Remote Desktop.

[highlight]Question:[/highlight]
Must I purchase terminal server licenses, or can Windows Server 2003 handle this by itself?

[highlight]Thank you:[/highlight]
I appreciate your attention to this post, and beg your indulgence: I'm just starting to learn Windows Server 2003.

Gus[/tt]

[tt]Gus Brunston[/tt]

 

[58sniper]

You need Terminal Server CALs for each user that will be using applications on the Terminal Server. I believe this is all documented by Microsoft.

Also, you still need user CALs for each application. If you have a terminal server with, say, Office installed, you need an Office user CAL for each user. Same generally applies for non Microsoft applications like Quickbooks.

So - for 10 users:
10 Windows CALs
10 Terminal Server user CALs
10 Office CALs
10 Quickbooks CALs

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[gusbrunston]

[tt]Thanks for the input.

I have the Windows CALs (5). It's a start.

Thanks again.[/tt]


[tt]Gus Brunston[/tt]

 

[cmeagan656]

Also, check that you can run QuickBooks on the Terminal Server. QuickBooks stopped being supported on Terminal Services after the 2003 version.

QuickBooks has a "fix" to run it on Terminal Services but it only applies to US customers, and its a pain in the a$$ to implement.'

Cheers.

 

[Zelandakh]

There are also some mild gotchas for installations of applications to run on a terminal server.

 

[cmeagan656]

If you go the Terminal Services route and QuickBooks won't work on it (which it won't if you're outside the US - even in the US its a pain to get working) then upgrade QuickBooks to QuickBooks Pro. It allows for installation on 5 computers.

For a comparison of the various versions see

http://quickbooks.intuit.ca/accounting-software/comparison-chart.jsp.

The prices quoted are in Canadian dollars.

Cheers

 

[gusbrunston]

I appreciate all your input.

I have decided, since I have all legal applications on each client PC, to use the server simply as a file server and avoid the costs and difficulty with the set up of a terminal server. Or, paper and pencil might work...

[tt]Gus Brunston[/tt]

 

[Zelandakh]

It might be easier to support!!