Remote Desktop Session Host

[choucove]

I'm curious if anyone has tried working with any sort of design software (Flexi, Adobe, Corel, etc.) in a Terminal Server or Remote Desktop Session Host. I know that enterprise environments can utilize virtual desktop to run client sessions on virtual servers with this software in a way that performs nearly identical to a traditional desktop workstation, but I'm curious about occasional light usage in a session-based environment.

For a while now I have been pondering testing this out with some software just to see if it will even work, accessing through WebApp on two client computers connected simultaneously to a program like Adobe Photoshop. I understand the performance in a production environment is definitely not going to be the same as having it on your local high-performance workstation, but for occasional light usage it might work very economically when you have perhaps ten computers you would like to access it from but only on a couple at a time.

 

[veloxgraphics]

This is how I work 100% of the time. I dont want my flexi/rip machine on the internet so i've disallowed external routing to it and work via fullscreen RDP.

Keep in mind, im doing mostly spot color work so no biggie... not sure what this would do to your raster color profiling.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Running the software on a Terminal Server is a tad bit than a simple RDP (single user). You are talking about multiple simultaneous users, correct.

I have not attempted this, but I foresee several problems.

The first problem I see is licensing. Even if it is possible, you would need licensing for multiple users on that server. This is not insurmountable, but could be expensive. Volume licensing would be your best bet. In addition, the way Adobe handles license activation could be a huge hurdle for a TS. Both the Flexi dongle and softkey are going to be major problems.

Second, if you get into multiple simultaneous users, you will see hardware and driver issues and crashing, especially Open GL in Adobe. In addition, design software as a whole is very hardware intensive and multiple TS sessions will be problematic at best.

Third, you are going to have problems with the software. I would bet the farm that Creative Suite and Flexi are going to have issues with multiple sessions. I am certain you can get them to install, but running the software with simultaneous sessions will be a nightmare.

I wouldn't waste my time. Why wouldn't you just allow the users to remote into their individual workstations? Maybe I am missing something.

 

[choucove]

Lol a nightmare with this kind of setup is actually what I expected, and especially in a production environment I'd never recommend this.

Let me explain the details though of what I'm actually contemplating this with. I do the computer work at the local library. It's just a small community library, but we have about a dozen patron computers which have access to the internet and the Microsoft Office suite. Last year they purchased two licenses of the Adobe Creative Suite software, one for on one staff computer for them to use, and one for on one patron computer for the public to use. Now, sometimes people will come in and be wanting to use that software for school work or even just simply "playing" but there might already be people using the one computer the software in installed on.

So, my thought was being able to set up a RDSH server on our primary server (dual twelve core 2.4 Ghz AMD Opteron system with room to add plenty of RAM) with the Adobe software installed on that, and access to the program then from all the patron computers if needed, but realistically only would be used by one person at a time, maybe two if we're lucky. Yes, the performance would be quite lacking compared to having it installed on the local computer probably, but we also only have to worry about licensing the RDSH instead of licensing every single patron computer.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Technically, you would have to have a license for every concurrent user, even if there is only one copy of the software installed.

If that is the scenario, then why not build a dedicated workstation (or two), instead of the server (make them physically inaccessible) and let the users remote into those two workstations from the other 12 using RDP? I would bet that it would be less expensive than the server and far fewer hoops to jump through.

 

[choucove]

I guess the reason why I was looking at using the server and RDSH instead of using workstations through RDP is for a couple reasons.

First, we already have a server in place that is capable of doing a lot more than we have running on it (two basic domain controllers in VMs running in Hyper-V on Server 2012) and using stand-alone workstations would require purchasing two new computers for that task. And second, I can configure the RDSH server with WebApp so that the Adobe software "appears" to be installed and running on the end use computer instead of having to do any RDP session at all. This might make it easier to train the library staff how to use, but maybe that too is just hopeful thinking!

All in all, going with a single stand-alone workstation that users and RDP to if they need might be the best way to go, and it's just something they can budget in if it is able to accomplish the needs properly as well!