initial installation: RDS 2012 R2 with 3 roles on the same server - RDCB, RDWA, RDSH for Remote App

HA and LB were configured after adding 3 new servers to the deployment: SQL, RDCB, RDSH

Questions:

1. for current needs 2 RDSHs easily carry the load. I would like to add third RDSH server and restrict connections to first server that has 3 roles RDCB, RDWA and RDSH.

Don't have access to Farm now but I guess I have to restrict connections to RDSH server in deployment and in HA configuration?

Would this approach be right for easier maintenance of RDSHs and from roles separation perspectives?

2. In case of 2 RDSHs on dedicated servers... If one fails, probably I have to put the server in Drain mode. There is no automatic HA for RDSHs. HA is for Brokers. Right?

3. If I will enable RDWA role on second RDCB (one role only) would it allow to have one broker server DOWN without service interruption? (my very first server has RDCB and RDWA roles)

Example: RDCB-1 and RDCB-2 with WEB roles installed. RDCB-1 fails. I understand that the remaining Broker will do the job.

What about WEB role? Would it be redundant too?

4. If I want to introduce new RDSH host to the FARM I would do:

a. add RDSH role to a new server

b. install needed application

c. add RDSH to deployment

d. provide licensing server for a new RDSH

Any other steps or order change?

Thanks.

Hi,

Based on me research, we can configure relative weight for Remote Desktop Session Host server to dertermine how mucn percentage sessions to accept.

More information for you:

Configure an RD Session Host Server to Join a Farm in RD Connection Broker

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771383.aspx

Windows Server 2012: Manage your RDS with RDMS

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dn235779.aspx

Best Regards,

Hi,

1. Yes, it is preferred to keep RDCB separate from RDSH.  If you add a separate RDSH server I would suggest removing RDSH from the brokers, leaving you with a collection of 2 dedicated RDSH servers if I understand your description correctly.

2. If an RDSH server fails any user that is currently on that server will need to launch their RemoteApp again, and when they do the broker will send them to the other RDSH server.  The "catch" is that there is a delay during which the broker will still send the users that were on the failed RDSH back to it when they reconnect.

3. Yes, RDWA will work.  You can have many RDWA servers in a deployment, and it is fine to have them on the brokers since they need to talk to the broker to retrieve published resources.  Just like the initial connections to the brokers you will need to use some method (load balancer, NLB, DNS RR) to balance the connections to multiple RDWA servers.  You should think through what will happen if a server fails, for example, will your chosen load balancer still send connections to a down server?

4. Add RDSH Role Service, install applications, add server to pool, add RDSH to deployment, then add to collection.  Once the RDSH server is added to a collection it will have its licensing mode and licensing server name set automatically based on deployment properties.  It's a small point, but if you wanted to you could add the server to pool, add RDSH server to the deployment (this will install RDSH Role Service), install applications, then finally add it to a collection if you want.  You should not add it to a collection until it is ready, since this effectively makes it "live" to your end users.

-TP