Determine Server Configuration to support Users

Because all application processing takes place on the server, a server running Terminal Services normally requires more server resources per user than a computer running Windows 2000 Server. Ensuring that your server can accommodate your user base is crucial. To determine how powerful a Terminal Server must be to support users, you should consider the following factors:

1. User characteristics
2. Server system configurations
3. Peripheral devices

• Evaluating User Characteristics
  Usage patterns of computer users can have a significant impact on the performance of Terminal Services. Most computer users can be placed in one of three categories described in the following user-characteristics.

Before you install Remote Desmtop Services, consider the following system recommendations:
File system: It is recommended that you install Terminal Services on a partition that is formatted with the NTFS file system. NTFS provides security for users who all may be able to view the folder trees of other users in a multiple-session environment. You can use the local security provided only on NTFS partitions to prevent users from exploring the contents of other users' folders.
The first course in this series addresses the NTFS file system. If you need a refresher, this sidebar will provide it.
After you create the partition on which you will install Windows 2000, Setup allows you to select the file system with which to format the partition. Like Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 supports the NTFS file system and the FAT file system. Support for the FAT32 file system is new to Windows 2000.
NTFS Use NTFS for partitions that require the elements shown in the following illustration:

To partition an NTFS drive using **Disk Management** in **Windows Server 2022**, follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Disk Management**

1. Right-click on the Start button and select Disk Management.
   • Alternatively, you can open Run (Win + R), type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
2. Locate the unallocated space on your disk, or if you need to shrink an existing volume to create space:
   • Right-click an existing NTFS partition and select Shrink Volume.
   • Enter the amount of space to shrink (in MB), then click Shrink.

Step 3: Create a New Partition**

3. Right-click the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.
4. Click Next in the New Simple Volume Wizard.

Step 4: Specify the Partition Size**

1. Enter the size of the new partition in MB (or use the default to allocate all available space).
2. Click Next.

Step 5: Assign a Drive Letter

7. Select Assign the following drive letter and choose a letter from the drop-down list.
8. Click Next.

Step 6: Format the Partition**

9. Choose the NTFS file system.
10. Set the Allocation unit size (default is recommended).
11. Enter a Volume Label (optional, e.g., "Data" or "Backup").
12. Select Perform a quick format (recommended).
13. Click Next.

Step 7: Finish the Process**

14. Review the summary and click Finish.
15. Windows will format the partition, and it will now appear in File Explorer under This PC.

Your **NTFS partition** is now ready for use on **Windows Server 2022**! 🚀

To partition an NTFS drive using Disk Management in Windows:

1. Open Disk Management by pressing the Windows key + X and selecting "Disk Management" from the menu.
2. Locate the drive you want to partition in the list of drives, and right-click on it. Select "New Simple Volume."
3. In the New Simple Volume Wizard, select the size of the partition you want to create and assign a drive letter to it.
4. Select the file system as NTFS and format the partition by giving the label name.
5. Finally, click on "Finish" to complete the partition process.

Note: The above steps assume that the drive you want to partition does not contain any data. If the drive contains data, you will need to back it up before partitioning the drive.

The version of NTFS in Windows 2000 (NTFS 5.0) supports remote storage, dynamic volumes, and the mounting of volumes to folders. Only NTFS partitions support local file and folder security. Windows 2000 and Windows NT are the only operating systems that can access data on a local hard disk formatted with NTFS. You must take care when you choose to dual boot Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. Windows 2000 will upgrade existing NTFS partitions automatically to NTFS 5.0. If you have Windows NT 4.0 installed on the same computer in a dual-boot configuration, it will not be able to read NTFS 5.0 partitions; if the boot partition for the Windows NT 4.0 installation is on an NTFS partition, you will not be able to start Windows NT 4.0. You can prevent this by installing Service Pack 4 (or above) in the Windows NT 4.0 installation before installing Windows 2000.

Click the learning bridge icon if you would like to review the NTFS file system. Server type: It is recommended that you install Terminal Services on a member server but not on a domain controller. Installing Terminal Services on a domain controller can hinder the performance of the server because of the additional memory, network traffic, and processor time that it requires to perform the tasks of a domain controller in a domain. In addition, there may be security risks inherent in placing a Terminal Server on a domain controller.
The Terminal Server should have at least 128 MB of RAM. The amount of RAM required to run a Terminal Server optimally will depend on the number of users simultaneously accessing the server as well as the types of activities the users perform on the server.

For each light user, you should add 10 MB of RAM and for each heavy user you should add at least 21 MB of RAM. You do not necessarily need to add the amount of RAM based on how much system memory each program requires;if multiple users access the same application, they are able to use the same shared .dlls already loaded into memory. 32-bit Windows programs are designed to work most efficiently with this code-sharing scheme, and therefore it becomes more important that you use only 32-bit Windows applications in Terminal Sessions. The processor type can be important depending upon the type of applications run in a Terminal Session. If you have several users who are running graphics manipulation programs or statistical simulations, then processor usage will become an issue. Users of basic Microsoft Office-type programs do not consume much in terms of processor resources.
Processor resources tend to scale in a linear fashion. So, if you want to support twice as many users and provide the same level of processing availability, you can add a second processor. Even if you do not require multiple processors at the present time, it is an excellent idea to buy a multiple processor system board that supports at least two, and preferably four, processors. This will enable you to add processors as the need arises, without having to replace the motherboard.

Peripheral devices can also affect the performance of a server running Terminal Services: Hard disks:Disk speed is critical for Terminal Server performance. Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) disk drives have significantly better throughput than other types of drives. For highest disk performance, consider using a SCSI RAID controller. RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) controllers automatically place data on multiple disks to increase disk performance and improve data reliability. The RAID controller will allow for simultaneous multiple disk reads and writes. Consider using RAID 5 for both speed and fault tolerance advantages. Network adapter: A high-performance network adapter is recommended, especially if users require access to data that is stored on network servers. Using multiple adapters can significantly increase network throughput. However, you should analyze whether adding additional adapters would in fact provide improved performance. If the Terminal Server already has a Fast Ethernet adapter and its local segment has reached capacity, adding a second Fast Ethernet card on the same segment will not confer any bandwidthcadvantage. Multiport asynchronous communication adapter: If a multiport asynchronous communication adapter is installed for supporting dial-up users, be sure to use an intelligent (microprocessor-based) adapter to both reduce interrupt overhead on the processor and increase throughput. Most multiport adapters have their own processors that handle the interrupt traffic; the digiboard line of multiport devices is one of the best. The next lesson looks at licensing requirements.