MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of October 2007 Sponsored by: UniPrint

Welcome to the MSTerminalServices.org newsletter by Stefan Vermeulen, MVP and Citrix CTP. Each month we will bring you interesting and helpful information on MS Terminal Services and server based computing. We want to know what all *you* are interested in hearing about. Please send your suggestions for future newsletter content to: SVermeulen@MSTerminalServices.org

1. Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services. Will it be enough this time?

With every release of a new Microsoft OS after Windows NT 4 Terminal Server Edition, the first question that always popped up was "Can I do without Citrix?" Not that Citrix is a bad thing, but for smaller shops it's pretty expensive, and the need to have remote users setup for about $100 a pop, has always played the minds of IT managers around the world.

With the release of Windows Server 2008, the situation is not much different. With Windows 2003 Server versus 2000, the gain was pretty high. Full color support, better printer driver redirection, (with kernel mode drivers being disallowed by default) and a dozen other features I haven't mentioned. Basically using Windows Server 2003 was much more stable than using Windows 2000. As for rich functionality it still was not enough for bigger companies, but smaller shops could work with it just fine. (Maybe an extra small add-on here and there).

So what will Windows Server 2008 bring us? And more importantly: what will it bring that is not already in Windows Server 2003? Keep in mind that the list is not final. With RC0 being released a few weeks ago, one of the things they noticed was the removal of AD integration of the TSWeb solution.

This may not sound like such a big deal, but it means that users will log into the portal and see all published applications, even if they are not allowed to start it. Not a good deal in my opinion. I think one of the earliest releases of NFuse from Citrix already had the functionality to hide what you are not entitled to. If this is dropped in the final release, I think someone will stand up and edit to portal to get this.

But let's focus on what we do get:

• RemoteApp. For those of you familiar with storing RDP files to connect to a server; that's basically it. Microsoft wraps it into a small MSI to deliver it to the end user as a remote application. The experience will be seamless and it has support for cleartext giving a richer look and feel.
• Gateway. Connect to a portal to start your application. Citrix addicts among you will see the NFuse resemblance. Nevertheless a nice one though.
• Web Access. This means that traffic will not travel over port 3389 as it had until now, but it will be tunneled through 80 or 443, depending on the setup.
• Session Broker. An alternative for NLB, but much richer. It will load balance the request over the least busy server, and will provide fail over if a server in your farm should fail. This is pretty cool. So far only third party solutions could provide this.
• Easy Print. This one popped up late in the beta stage, and surprised most of us. Another 5 years of using the NT 3.51 printing technology is out of the question. Other printing solutions profited well on this, but they came at a steep price. The key is to now see which is best. Microsoft's XPS format or the postscript/EMF format that everybody else is using. Time will tell. If you do switch, keep in mind that the client will require .NET Framework 3.0 SP1. And that is not a small package.

The official statement from Microsoft when it comes to comparing Terminal Services to Citrix is 'the intent of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services is to provide a "better entry-level solution"' and that it is "optimized for low complexity scenarios".

What I read was "we are not going to change an ecosystem that works well with a minimal investment and brings us maximum ROI". Will it be enough for the small shops though? I think so.

I think that with the web enablement, the solid printing and the load balance/failover, this will suffice for the smaller environments. And the big guys, what will they do? Being stuck with ICA they need to work with Presentation Server 4.5. This product outweighs Windows Server 2008 by miles. The functionality difference is huge. But then again, so is the price difference.

Will Windows Server 2008 make IT managers of large companies rethink their SBC solution? Will the market shift towards other add-ons to come close to what they want? Time will tell, but I think bigger companies will use this to renegotiate their deal with Citrix.

2. KB Articles / Webcasts of the Month

• How to increase the number of Outlook 2003 clients that your Windows Server 2003 x64-based terminal server can support
• Event ID 10000 is logged in the Application log on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that has Terminal Server enabled
• A Windows Server 2003-based terminal server crashes when 30 to 40 users use roaming profiles to log on to or log off the terminal server
• Error message when you try to log on to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server: "Windows cannot load the user's profile but has logged you on with the default profile for the system"
• Event IDs 1000 and 1004 may be logged in the Application event log, and Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server client connections and logon tries may sometimes fail, when you try to connect to a remote computer
• Standard users cannot turn off the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security feature on a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
• An incorrect client name appears in the license server database when you connect the client to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
• You cannot use a keyboard shortcut that uses the ALT GR key in a Terminal Services session that connects to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
• A user who is logged on to a Windows Server 2003-based Terminal Server cannot configure a printer as the default printer
• Stop error message when a client logs off from a Terminal Services session on a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server: "Stop 0x000000ab"
• Keystroke repetition and keyboard scrolling do not work smoothly when you use a Remote Desktop connection to connect to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
• Nothing occurs when you click Explore on the desktop in ActiveSync 4.0 or in ActiveSync 4.1 on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition

• The Terminal Server Licensing tool may unexpectedly quit after you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 on a Terminal Server
• A Windows Server 2003-based terminal server in a forest cannot obtain a license from a license server in a different forest
• A leak occurs in the Netbt.sys file on Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server that has many NetBT connections
• You receive a "The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted" error message when you try to establish a new Terminal Services connection to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
• The session redirection function does not work correctly on Windows Server 2003-based servers that have Terminal Server enabled
• You cannot connect a terminal server client to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
• Terminal Servers cannot locate the license servers when you use the "Use the specified Terminal Server license servers" policy setting
• A terminal server cannot obtain a license from a licensing server that is running Windows Server 2003
• When a user logs off a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based terminal server, the terminal server may stop responding for several seconds
• You cannot connect to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server when the screen resolution for the Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX control is higher than 1600 by 1200 pixels

3. Ask our MVPs a question

QUESTION: Hello Stefan; With Windows Server 2008 now coming with viridian, do you think I could setup a big server and run multiple Terminal Server instances on it to get a few hundred user load on it?

Regards,
Trying Tina

ANSWER: Dear Tina,

Numerous tests in the past have shown saturation of the host, when running Citrix on vmware at 10 to 15 heavy users and 20 to 30 light users, or when running a huge amount of users directly on Citrix/TS saturation happened on a huge server at about 150 users.

With your "all eggs in one basket" approach in combination with both multiple Terminal Servers and a big user load and Viridian being new technology at version 1.0, I think you are being a bit too ambitious. We can expect people to start trying to find out what the breaking point of this new technology is, and to where it can bring us. I would, in your case, not try this on my end users. Let the lab rats have their go at it, and re-evaluate your idea somewhere at the end of next year.

4. Learning Zone

We have a great group of articles in the Learning Zone that will help you get a handle on your most difficult configuration issues. Here are just a few of the newer and more interesting articles:

• Troubleshooting Terminal Server Licensing Issues Part1, Part2 and Part 3.
  Date - Sep 26 2007; Author - Michael Burke; Section - Articles : Licensing
  In this article Michael dives into all issues you can encounter with TS licensing. He will help you with everything you can think of, and what can go wrong. An excellent 3-piece.
• Why you need a redundant Citrix License Server and how this can be accomplished
  Date - Oct 10, 2007; Author - Wilco van Bragt; Section - Articles : Licensing
  Wilco explains the need for redundancy at your Citrix license server and the best way to set this up

5. Tip of the Month

Load testing a Citrix server does not always have to be expensive like for example load runner. Luckily there is a tool out there called DeNamiK LoadGen and it has just reached version 1.2. With this you can test up to 35 users from 3 client machines for absolutely no charge. The counter only starts running over this amount. You can download this free load testing tool here.

6. Blog Posts

• Microsoft has extensively blogged about the new printing technology in the upcoming Windows Server 2008. Make sure to check out the 3 piece on it.
• Read all about the Client Requirements for TS Web Access in Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate (RC0)
• Want to know about Terminal Services RemoteApp Session Termination Logic in Windows Server 2008
• Do you need to connect to the Windows Server 2008 core for maintenance? Then make sure to read this article on how to do that
• Michael Roth has revised his article on Windows Server 2008 Parallel Session Creation. Read all the details on it in his blogpost

7. Events / Links of the Month

I think the biggest news is the release of the RC0 version of Windows Server 2008. This one is close to RTM and gives you a good indication of what we can expect in the final product. I also think that many people are going to give Viridian a kick, just to see what it's worth. Want to give it your own try? Download a 30-day version here.

MSTerminalServices.org will be announcing the winners of the Windows Internals book any day now. Stay tuned to see if you are the winner!

To handle RDP connections you can either store .DRP files, retype your connection data or use a (free) nifty application like Royal TS. Version 1.4 has just been released. Get your copy here.

See you next month!