Terminal Services and Windows System Resource Manager

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Windows® System Resource Manager (WSRM) on Windows Server® 2008 allows you to control how CPU and memory resources are allocated to applications, services, and processes on the computer. Managing resources in this way improves system performance and reduces the chance that applications, services, or processes will take CPU or memory resources away from one another and slow down the performance of the computer. Managing resources also creates a more consistent and predictable experience for users of applications and services running on the computer.

You can use WSRM to manage multiple applications on a single computer or users on a computer on which Terminal Services is installed.

For more information about WSRM, see the WSRM Help in the Windows Server 2008 Technical Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=106538).

Prerequisites for Using WSRM with Terminal Services

Installing Terminal Server

Install the Terminal Server role service on your computer before installing and configuring WSRM. To install the Terminal Server role service in Windows Server 2008 see the Terminal Server Installation procedure.

Installing WSRM

To install WSRM

  1. Open Server Manager. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.

  2. Under Features Summary, click Add features.

  3. On the Select Features page, select the Windows System Resource Manager check box.

  4. A dialog box will appear informing you that Windows Internal Database also needs to be installed for WSRM to work properly. Click Add Required Features, and then click Next.

  5. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, verify that Windows Internal Database and Windows Server Resource Manager will be installed, and then click Install.

  6. On the Installation Results page, confirm that the installation of Windows Internal Database and Windows Server Resource Manager succeeded, and then click Close.

After you install WSRM, you need to start the Windows System Resource Manager service.

To start the Windows System Resource Manager service

  1. Open the Services snap-in. To open the Services snap-in, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.

  2. In the Services dialog box, in the Name column, right-click Windows System Resource Manager, and then click Start.

Configuring WSRM for Terminal Services

Windows System Resource Manager Snap-In

To configure WSRM, you use the Windows System Resource Manager snap-in.

To open the Windows System Resource Manager snap-in

  1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Windows System Resource Manager.

  2. In the Connect to computer dialog box, click This computer, and then click Connect to have the Windows System Resource Manager administer the computer that you are using.

Resource-Allocation Policies

WSRM uses resource-allocation policies to determine how computer resources, such as CPU and memory, are allocated to processes running on the computer. There are two resource-allocation policies that are specifically designed for computers running Terminal Services. The two Terminal Services-specific resource-allocation policies are:

  • Equal_Per_User

  • Equal_Per_Session

Note

The Equal_Per_Session resource-allocation policy is new for Windows Server 2008.

If you implement the Equal_Per_Session resource-allocation policy, each user session (and its associated processes) gets an equal share of the CPU resources on the computer.

To implement the Equal_Per_Session resource-allocation policy

  1. Open the Windows System Resource Manager snap-in.

  2. In the console tree, expand the Resource Allocation Policies node.

  3. Right-click Equal_Per_Session, and then click Set as Managing Policy.

  4. If a dialog box appears informing you that the calendar will be disabled, click OK.

For information about the Equal_Per_User resource-allocation policy and additional WSRM settings and configuration (such as creating a process-matching criterion by using user or group matching), see the WSRM Help in the Windows Server 2008 Technical Library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=106538).

Monitoring Performance

You should collect data about the performance of your terminal server before and after implementing the Equal_Per_Session resource-allocation policy (or making any other WSRM-related configuration change). You can use Resource Monitor in the Windows System Resource Manager snap-in to collect and view data about the usage of hardware resources and the activity of system services on the computer.

Additional references

For information about other new features in Terminal Services, see What's New in Terminal Services for Windows Server 2008.