If your Terminal Services become terminal, consider whether your needs have outgrown your initial set-up...

If your organisation is experiencing connection problems with Terminal Services - i.e. if your users are being disconnected from their Remote Desktop session or other connection protocols - consider whether or not your requirements may have changed since you set up the infrastructure. Terminal Services over a WAN network are usually established with a reasonably specific number of contemporaneous users in mind, based on the discussions you had with your IT consultants prior to installation. Though configurations can vary enormously, it's usually better to consider a Terminal Services infrastructure not as a train to which an extra carriage can be attached as needed, but rather a custom-built limousine; a luxurious experience indeed - until all the seats are gone.

Your Terminal Services configuration's 'failover' capability is not there to permanently absorb new capacity, but to ensure continuity of service. 'Failover' is the mechanism by which a server-farm's self-management system automatically switches from a server that is experiencing difficulty to one that is operational, alerting a support engineer and allowing your business to continue with your remaining Terminal Servers at full capacity until the errant server is fixed.

When configuring a terminal server farm, you need to ensure that there is enough capacity for failover. For example, if you have three terminal servers that can each accommodate twenty users, the system is only fit to handle forty users - so that you can lose one server and still operate. If you run fifty to sixty users across three terminal servers and one of the servers experiences a failure, then you’ll be left with ten or twenty users unable to work - potentially causing serious disruption.

An unanticipated rise in users is not the only factor that can cause connection issues over Terminal Services - the addition of new software and protocols can cause demands on the quality of service. If your broadband connection is struggling with your latest innovations in work-flow, it may be time to think about a SAN, a server-rack in a dedicated data centre, or an upgrade in the kind of connection that your Terminal Services are using. Depending on the current configuration, your struggling TS network may be curable with as little as the addition of an extra virtual Terminal Server.

If you're a London business or concern and need to discuss the performance of your current Terminal Services arrangements, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at Wanstor to discuss a range of options to get your connections and performance back up to speed.