How to license Windows Terminal Services

Licensing Windows Terminal Services can sometimes get confusing. Terminal Service is built into the Windows Server, but does require additional licenses to utilize. First you need the Server license and the appropriate number of client licenses. These client licenses can be set as per user or per device.

A per user license is a license for 1 user to access the server. A per device license is for one system to access the server. Which license would be more effective depends greatly on how people will be accessing your server.

Terminal Services also requires using a client license. The Terminal Services Client Access License allows users to connect to the Terminal Server in Windows Server. This license can also be used per user or per device.

In order to access the server the client will need to have both the Server client license and the Terminal Services client license.

Another thing to keep in mind with Terminal Services licensing is it does not effect application licenses. Applications such as Office have their own license rules.  Most applications require one license per system.  In other words if you are using a Terminal Server with Office 2007 you will need an Office 2007 license for the server and for each system that uses the software. If you have questions please feel free to contact me.