How Can You Improve RDS Load Balancing? Parallels Answers

RDS Load Balancing – As business networks become more mobile, Remote Desktop Services (RDS) allows organizations to remotely deliver applications and virtual desktops to their employees in a multi-platform environment. Load balancing is implemented in most cases to manage traffic and maintain a high-availability network.

Although there are several new entrants in the network operating system vertical, Windows still maintains an edge over the others. According to a survey by the IT professional community, Spiceworks, the Windows on-premises server operating system market share as of August 2016 was 87.8%. A Netcraft February 2016 report showed that Microsoft increased its share by 6.14%, which means 279 million web-facing computers were using Windows. Microsoft’s web-facing computer server market share was 29.83% as of February 2016.

What is RDS?

Microsoft RDS enables organizations to centrally host resources and securely publish session-based desktops and applications to remote users. It was known as Terminal Services in earlier versions of Windows Server. Microsoft introduced RDS with Windows Server 2008 R2. In the RDS setup, resources are hosted and run on a central server instead of work stations. When the client device requests the desktop, the RDS server sends an image of that desktop to the client machine, and mouse clicks and keystrokes are sent back to the server by the client machine.

With RDS, load balancing is implemented to effectively manage network traffic. As processing is done at the server end, client machines need  minimal configuration. This means organizations can optimize operational costs. Desktops and virtual applications are delivered either as shared sessions or in a VDI environment. RDS is an effective option to publish Windows applications to a range of remote devices.

RDS Load BalancingRDS load balancing

RDS load balancing is a critical feature that enables organizations to authenticate and route traffic to available servers in order to maximize the efficiency of the network. When a server is down, the traffic is routed to other servers, ensuring there is no single point of failure. Moreover, the infrastructure can be quickly scaled to meet changing business demands. As servers are relieved from tasks such as TCP optimization, application performance is improved. Application resilience is achieved with no site failures.

Challenges with RDS load balancing

While RDS load balancing is a great tool to manage remote network connections, it comes with certain challenges. The major challenge is the complexity in configuring and managing the tool.

To set up RDS load balancing, you should install and configure all of the abovementioned  server roles, which requires technical expertise and long hours of installation. Moreover, the installation process is not straightforward. For instance, the RDS Deployment Wizard cannot be used to install the RD Licensing server; it should be installed using the RDS Management tool within the RDS management console. To publish applications, IT administrators should install and configure the RemoteApp component.

Similarly, RDS load balancing is not part of the basic tool set. IT administrators must install and configure an additional component called Network Load Balancing (NLB).

Parallels RAS does it all from a single pane

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is a comprehensive virtualization solution that enhances RDS load balancing while effectively monitoring and managing the entire infrastructure with ease. All the virtualization components of RAS, including High Availability Load Balancing (HALB), come auto-configured by default. The HALB component checks not only for available servers but also for available gateways, to provide optimum network output. The installation of the tool is simple and easy. By following a simple wizard, you can set up the tool within minutes.

Publishing an application is a very simple with Parallels RAS. Because the solution supports all major hypervisors, browsers and devices, you can easily integrate your existing infrastructure with the tool. RDS load balancing offers limited support to non-Windows devices, but Parallels RAS provides full support to all devices, including Android, iOS, Mac, Linux and Chromebook. Most importantly, Parallels RAS is the most cost-effective virtualization solution on the market.

Would you like to try Parallels RAS? Download the free trial. 


References

RDS Load Balancing: Server Virtualization and OS Trends | community.spiceworks.com

https://community.spiceworks.com/networking/articles/2462-server-virtualization-and-os-trends

RDS Load Balancing: February 2016 Web Server Survey | news.netcraft.com

https://news.netcraft.com/archives/2016/02/22/february-2016-web-server-survey.html

RDS Load Balancing: Checklist: Create a Load-Balanced RD Session Host Server Farm by Using RD Connection Broker | technet.microsoft.com

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753891(v=ws.11).aspx

RDS Load Balancing: Remote Desktop Server farms explained (Part 1) | virtualizationadmin.com

http://www.virtualizationadmin.com/articles-tutorials/vdi-articles/general/remote-desktop-server-farms-explained-part1.html

RDS Load Balancing: Step by Step Windows 2012 R2 Remote Desktop Services – Part 3 | msfreaks.wordpress.com

https://msfreaks.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/windows-2012-r2-remote-desktop-services-part-3/