Question

I’m in the proccess for deploying a RDS environment for a customer, and I’ve thought it could be better (faster, cheaper and more secure) for my client if I could implement it using Windows Azure hosted Virtual machines than having onpremise hardware.

Then, my questions are:

· Is it possible technically? I mean, will the virtual machine give good service for, let’s say, +-100 concurrent users? Will it be a consistent connection without break-downs?

· Is it possible legally? That is, can I do it? I suppose I should buy RDS licenses… but I don’t know how nor where to do it.

· I’m I right? I mean, is this the best solution to use Azure?

I’ve found some information so far (here, for example: http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/enabling-remote-desktop-services-in.html) but I’m not sure about the “official” answer for theese questions

Thanks in advance for your help,

luis

Answer 1

• Technically possible: Yes
• Good service for +/- 100 concurrent users? This will depend on the size of your VM. Large VMs have a higher bandwidth. More info: 7 Things to Know About Windows Azure Capacity
• Will it be a consistent connection without break-downs? Will depend on the instance size… if you choose a small instance and it’s constantly at 100% CPU and Network I/O you won’t have a stable environment. Besides that you have to know that today “Virtual Machines” is still a preview feature without SLA.
• Is it possible legally? I’m not sure actually…Take a look at the licensing terms: MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER 2008 R2 (FOR USE WITH WINDOWS AZURE). These state the following:

You may not use the following functionality in the software:

• Remote Desktop Services
• Rights Management Services

• I suppose I should buy RDS licenses? You should contact support and ask if you CAN use RDS in Windows Azure, and if that’s allowed you can simply buy these licenses (CAL) from Microsoft Partners.
• Is this the best solution to use Azure? Well this depends. If your customer wants this today I would say no (Amazon might be a better pick today). The reason is simple, Virtual Machines is still a preview feature and imho this isn’t suited for production deployments (yet).