TS Session Broker is Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services feature that would allow you to create highly reliable Terminal Services utilizing multiple Server Machines. TS Session Broker creates Load Balancing between the servers that are same farm. You can assign relative weight value to each server to setup which server receives more or less of the load. Your TS Session Broker Farm members must be running Windows Server 2008 and must be members of the same domain.
Install Windows Server 2008 Session Broker
The first step of your creating your TS Load Balancing is to setup one of your TS Servers as a session broker. To crate TS session broker farm, follow the steps bellow.
1. Install and configure
Terminal Services on all you TS servers and join them to the domain.
2. Using a Server Manger, expand server object tree and select Terminal Services.
3. Click on
Add Role, select
TS Session Broker to install, and make sure TS Terminal services is installed. Click next.
4. Read the information in console and click
Install.
5. Wait the installation to complete and then click Close.
Creating TS Load balancing
After you install Terminal Services to all you TS Servers and setup one of your machines as Session Broker. The next step is to join the TS machines to the same farm and create the actual load balancing. First join the Terminal Servers to the Session Directory Computers local group following these steps;
1. On the TS Session Broker server, click
Start, select
Administrative Tools, and then click on
Computer Management.
2. In the left pane, expand
Local Users and Groups, and then select
Groups.
3. In the right pane, right-click the
Session Directory Computers group, and then click
Properties.
4. Click
Add, search and select each
Terminal Server that will create the TS Farm.
5. Click
Ok when you finish.
After you add all your Terminal Servers to the Session Directory Computers group, the next step is to add the Terminal Servers to the TS Session Broker to form a farm.
6. In the Server Manger, expand
Terminal Services and click on
Terminal Services Configuration. Alternatively, you can go to the
Start ->
Administrative Tools ->
Terminal Services and click on
Terminal Services Configuration.
7. In the
Terminal Services Configuration, double click
Member of farm in TS Session Broker link.
8. Put a check mark on
Join a farm in TS Session Broker check box.
9. Type the Sessions Broker server name or IP address (This is the server that you installed TS Session broker).
10. Type the name of the Farm that will create the load balancing.
11. Put a check mark on
Participate in Session Broker Load Balancing check box.
12. You can assign
Relative weight of the server in the form. Higher the number, the more load it will get.
13. Click
OK.
14. Perform the same steps on each Terminal Server that will participate in the TS Session Broker Farm.
The last step of creating TS Load Balancing is to create DNS round robin. In this step, you simply create DNS host record for the TS Session Broker Farm.
1. On you DNS server click
Start, select
Administrative Tools and then click on
DNS.
2. Expand the DNS, expand the Server object, expand Forward Lookup Zone, and then select and correct Domain Forward Lookup Zone.
3. In the right panel, right click and click on
New Host (A).
4. In the name field, type your
TS Farm that you have created on step 10.
5. Type the IP address of one of the TS servers added to the farm and then click
Add Host.
6. Add same
Host Record for each TS Server that will participate in the Load Balancing Farm by repeating the process above.
