Configuring Windows 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Farm with Connection Broker

In my previous article about Windows 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services (RDS) I set up a single server with the RD Session Host and Web Access roles.  Now I will expand on this and add an additional Session Host/Web Access server to create an RDS server farm for redundancy.  I will use the RD Connection Broker role to provide session reconnection and load balancing features.  Both of my RD servers are members of an Active Directory domain. This is a requirement for using the Connection Broker role.

Install RD Connection Broker Role

The Connection Broker role can be installed on a separate server or on one of your Session Hosts.  For the highest reliability and in larger environments I would recommended installing the Connection Broker on a separate server.  That way you can bring down either of your Session Hosts for maintenance while ensuring that the Connection Broker service is available for the remaining server(s).  I will be installing the Connection Broker role on a server that was previously configured with the RD Licensing role.  In this example my Session Host/Web Access servers are named RD1 and RD2, and my Connection Broker is named DC2.  All of the configuration will be done using a Domain Administrator account.

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Installing and Configuring Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) on Windows Server 2008 R2

In the latest release of Windows 2008 R2, Terminal Services has been renamed Remote Desktop Services (RDS).  There are many enhancements in this release including enhanced multimedia performance and the ability to publish custom applications sets to specific users through Remote Desktop Web Access.  The Web Access role as the name suggests allows users to access Remote Desktop applications through a web site.  This feature is official known as RemoteApp.  The new name for the core Terminal Server running in application mode for user sessions is Remote Desktop Session Host.

In my environment I will configure the Remote Desktop Session Host and Web Access roles on the same server.  I will also install the Remote Desktop Licensing role on a dedicated server so that any additional Session Hosts I add in the future can share this service.  The License Server role can be installed on your Session Host server if desired.  All of my servers are members of an Active Directory domain.

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