Remote Desktop Services - User CAL vs Device CAL limits?

Question

I have a very large physical server running Windows Server 2019 Standard. I want to enable 30 different users to log in via RDP from their desktops. None of these users will be on ActiveDirectory or a domain. They will all be logging in via different local user accounts on the server.

I have a few questions:

1. Is a Device CAL the right license for this setup? How many would I need to enable 30 different logins on the same server?
2. Does it matter if all 30 logins are coming from the same source machine but are all different accounts (imagine that I am logging in via 30 different RDP icons from my local desktop, each pointed to the same server but using different user accounts on the server). Does this reduce the number of CALs needed?
3. Is there an upper bound on simultaneous users that can be active via RDP on a machine just in terms of technical limitations, regardless of licensing?

Nothing is virtualized.

Answer 1

I think the FAQ does a good job of explaining the differences here and which option you should choose. A quick summary:

• Per device means you may have 1 user connected for each license at the same time. It doesn't matter who that user is, they get 1 CAL. So if you paid for 30 CALs then up to 30 people can be connected at any one time. Basically you're leasing a parking place on the server. This doesn't require any AD membership.
• Per user means each user must have their own license. When they connect they use the license associated with their account. It doesn't matter how many people are connected provided each one has their own CAL. Basically each user has a designated parking spot that no one else can use. This requires AD so when the user logs in their login is tied to the CAL.

In a normal situation you'd use per user (which is generally cheaper) if you have a fixed set of users who all might be connecting. You would need 1 CAL per user. If you have users who only occasionally need to connect then you are wasting money.

Per device is better when you have a large number of users who may connect at some point but not all at once. This tends to be cheaper since you only need enough licenses for the max # of users who might connect at any one time. For example if you have 100 users who might need to connect but only 20 at any one time will then you can pay for 20 CALs. That saves you the cost of 80 CALs but the price is slightly higher per CAL (I believe).

In your case you said you don't have AD so per device is your only choice. You need to purchase enough CALs to cover the # of users who would be connected at any one time. If you suddenly need more CALS then you'd need to buy them which allows you to "ramp up" as needed.

There is no technical limit on RDS other than the physical limits of the server itself. Each RDS session takes up resources so if your machine has 2 cores and 8 GB of memory then it isn't going to be able to handle 100s of users at the same time. The recommendation is to monitor your server resources and if you are consistently at 80+% utilization then it may be time to throw more CPUs/memory/storage at it.

Answer 2

Hello, I'm not sure if I fully grasp your perspective, but if you're aiming to utilize two different Session Hosts within the same domain, you simply require 30 Per User CALs. Users can log in to either of them using the same license. The crucial step is setting up a License Server and configuring Group Policy on each Session Host to designate the License Server.

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