Windows 7 Concurrent Connections
We are planning to place a Windows 7 Enterprise machine in one of our small offices to act as a print and file share server. I have read Windows 7 is limited to 20 concurrent connections. I am unclear on what constitutes a concurrent connection. a. Is one connection simply having a mapped drive from that machine or does it have to be open? b. Does it count as one connection if you have a file open from the file share? Does it count as multiple connections if you have more than one file open? c. Does it count as a connection if you are mapped to a printer or does it only count as a connection at the moment you are printing? d. Do individual users count as one connection to where it doesn’t matter how many resources each user is using? I would appreciate it if someone could clarify it for me. Thanks.
September 1st, 2011 2:39pm

How many servers do you have? Are you using AD or simple Windows accounts? If you are just using a Windows 7 machine, it can handle a small workgroup only. If you have more than 10 then use Windows Server Windows MVP, XP, Vista, 7. Expanding into Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server, SharePoint etc. My page on Video Card Problems is now my most popular landing page. My Page on SSD is now #2. See my gaming site for game reviews etc. Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews
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September 1st, 2011 3:46pm

The limit applies to the number of User sessions. So, the answer to your questions are: a. The number of users connected to the mapped drive (no red cross in My Computer) equals number of connections. b. One user who has opened multiple files opened counts as one connection only (but limited to 16,384 files per user). c. Same as (a), number of users connected to the printer (no red cross) equals number of connections. d. A single user can have up to 16,384 files opened in a session but will still be counted as one connection. To know more, type net /? command at the command prompt and you'll see a whole list of details there. I typed net config server and it told me: Maximum Logged On Users = 20. Please revert back here if you need any further clarifications. Hope it helps! Kunal D Mehta - a Windows Server Enthusiast | My first TechNet Wiki Article
September 3rd, 2011 8:40am

Hello I am currently using Windows 7 in a similar way. 1 question I have is whether the licence is per user or per device. At the moment all users are set up to connect via a file share, with their own account, but this is not really needed in our case. So if I change all the connections to use one account details, will I still be using my licences? Thanks Paddy
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September 18th, 2011 5:33am

Can you please elaborate what do you mean by "...So if I change all the connections to use one account"? If you meant all users using the same credentials, I'm not sure about the licenses but this is not recommended for data integrity purposes. Hope it helps!Kunal D Mehta - a Windows Server Enthusiast | My first TechNet Wiki Article
September 18th, 2011 5:46am

Hello yes, that is what I meant.
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September 18th, 2011 11:54am

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