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Earls
Asked: 2011-09-11 06:17:58 +0800 CST

Should I use Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise for AD or RDS?

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I have one copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise.

Based on it's available feature set, would it better provision the server as the AD role or RDS role for the company? (I have an older Server 2008 copy for the other.)

windows-server-2008-r2

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    A single Enterprise license allows for up to four copies of the same license to be installed on VMs running on the same hardware. You might be best off installing the free Hyper-V Server on your bare metal and installing one instance as AD/DNS and the other as RDS, that way if you need to reboot one it doesn't kill the other.

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  2. It really depends on the physical server you would install it on, and what apps you plan to host on the RDS.
    Windows Server 2008 R2 is x64 ONLY. Meaning there is a potential for some 32 bit applications to not run correctly if used for RDS. You would also need to make sure you have the physical resources available to justify the use of Enterprise. The AD DS role in and of itself does not require Enterprise, although there are some integrated aspects that could (Enterprise CA).

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