Terminal Service

Terminal Service CALs continue to be one of our most popular products. Windows server Terminals Services allows a user from a remote device to access the server and run applications off the server.

There are two ways that Terminal Services can be licensed. It can be licensed on a per device system. Per device licensing assigns one CAL to each device that uses the Terminal Server. The other option is a per user option. Per user licensing assigns one CAL to each user that uses the Terminal Server. Organizations can save money by determining if they will have more users or devices and purchasing whichever option would require fewer CALs.

Small Business Server does not allow Terminal Services to run in application mode. If you are using a Small Business Server and want Terminal Service capability you will need to purchase a stand alone Windows Server to run Terminal Services.

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.

Microsoft Open License

The Microsoft Open License program is designed to provide discounts to volume customers. To enroll in the program it requires a minimum purchase of 5 licenses. It does not matter what the 5 licenses consist of, for instance if you need 1 Windows Server, 1 CAL, 1 Terminal Services CAL, Windows Vista, and Office 2007, you would qualify. Open License also allows you to install multiple licenses with one media kit. For instance if you have 10 machines that need Office 2007, you would be able to use 1 CD for all of your machines instead of trying to keep track of CDs and product keys for each machine.

Microsoft also offers the Open Value licensing program, and the Open Volume licensing program.  These programs offer similar benefits to Open License and provide some other features that may or may not fit your needs. If you have any questions about which program is right for you let me know and I will be happy to go over options with you.