Terminal Services x64 Scaling and Performance of Windows Server 2003 x64 whitepaper from Microsoft.
Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 Terminal Server lets users run Microsoft Windows®-based applications on a remote computer that is running one of the Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems. This white paper contains results, analyses, and sizing guidelines for Terminal Services on x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003. Hewlett Packard worked in cooperation with Microsoft to perform the initial sizing tests and data collection in the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center in Redmond, Washington. The tests were performed using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1).
This white paper explores the potential impact of the new x64-based versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 on Terminal Services deployments.
· The 64-bit architecture removes kernel virtual address space limitations that affect the number of sessions that are supported by the operating system in the 32-bit architecture. On a 32-bit system there is an effective limit of 300 user sessions for typical Knowledge Worker scenarios. (The actual user session limit is affected by the number of applications running in the session, resource consumption by each application, and user activity patterns.) On a 64-bit system, the theoretical user session limit is much higher.
· The low overhead in terms of CPU consumption in the x64 architecture makes it possible for Terminal Services deployments to take advantage of the new generation of high performance 64-bit CPUs (specifically the multi-core configurations) to support a larger number of users on a single server. Synthetic benchmark results were able to support as many as 600 users on a single server. This is well beyond the 32-bit architectural limitations.
· Migrating from 32-bit to 64-bit systems while deploying the same set of 32-bit applications requires special attention to memory configuration. (The Knowledge Worker workload test on 64-bit systems required between 1.5 to 2 times more RAM to perform at similar levels with the 32-bit systems.)
· Configurations with a large number of users typically require non-trivial storage support (more than the commonly-used one to two SCSI hard disks for system binaries and application data) that can handle a high level of disk I/O activity from both the operating system and from applications.
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