Re: SV: [K12OSN] rdesktop and licensing

[Chris Hobbs <chobbs silvervalley k12 ca us>]

Shawn Powers wrote:

> This really isn't me being sneaky, I'm seriously curious about CALs for 
> this type of installation.  I guess I never realized you needed a CAL 
> for every account on the server.  I thought you could use the "per seat" 
> type licensing.

Under Windows 2003, "Per Seat" licensing went away, replaced by Per User 
or Per Device.

"Per Server" licensing still exists, but only for Windows CALs, not for 
Terminal Service CALs (TS CALs). TS CALs must be either Per User or Per 
Device.

Accessing Terminal Services requires both a Windows CAL and a TS CAL.

The way I read this, if you had a single server expecting no more than 
50 concurrent connections, you could get away with only purchasing 50 
Windows CALs. However, you would still need Per User or Per Device CALs 
for *every* username or *every* device that might make a TS connection. 
In a school with many more users than devices, I'd expect you'd choose 
Per Device. If you have 200 potential terminals, you'd need 200 Per 
Device TS CALs to go with your 50 Windows CALs.

See:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/ts2003.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/default.mspx

> This thread hits home to me, as I'm about to propose rdesktop as a 
> solution to our "blind need for windows"

Hope this helps!

--
Chris Hobbs       Silver Valley Unified School District
Head geek:              Technology Services Coordinator
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