CAL license for Thin Clients

Gabriel Parise 1 Reputation point
2021-03-23T16:39:46.103+00:00

Good afternoon, We want to implant Thin Clients in our company. We found the TSPlus system who is telling us that we not need to buy any CAL license. They have this on their website "The Software contains Remote Desktop (RDS) and Remote Assistance technologies that enable the Software or applications installed on the TSplus server (hereafter referred to as a Host Device) to be accessed remotely from other Devices. You may use the Software's Remote Desktop (RDS) feature to access the Host Device from any Device provided you acquire a separate Software license for that Device. When you are using Remote Assistance (or other software which provides similar functionality for a similar purpose) you may share a Session with other users without any limit on the number of Device connections and without acquiring additional licenses for the Software. For Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications, you should consult the license agreement accompanying the applicable software or contact the applicable licensor to determine whether use of the software with Remote Desktop (RDS) or Remote Assistance is permitted without an additional license." May someone please tell if is it possible or not?

Windows Server
Windows Server
A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.
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  1. Grace HE 1,236 Reputation points
    2021-03-24T07:56:30.147+00:00

    Hi,
    Thank you for posting your query. According to your description, I think these links can help you figure out your concern.
    Using certificates in Remote Desktop Services
    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/dn781533(v=ws.11)

    Thin client RDS licensing
    https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/ac5d8cd6-a30e-4d6f-a5dd-6631b1461d8b/thin-client-rds-licensing?forum=winserverTS

    Best Regards,
    Grace

    ---If the suggestions above are helpful, please ACCEPT ANSWER. Really appreciate. This will also help others with similar issue to find this post quickly. ---

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  2. Cheong00 3,471 Reputation points
    2021-03-24T08:03:42.66+00:00

    Btw, I think he is not asking about e-certificates, but CAL that license client access to the system.

    IMO, if that TSPlus system is their own implementation of RDP server then no TS/RDS CAL should be required. However you should ask at Microsoft Licensing for authoritative answer.

    Also note that as of now, although Microsoft had published the protocol itself as OpenSpec, she also explicitly requires third-party implementations to license the relevant RDP patents. Although the execution of patent right usually don't directly affect customers, the "cease and desist" request may make the company unable to offer further update/support for the product. I suggest you to check with them and see if the product had properly acquired grant on patent usage from Microsoft.

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