MSFT Terminal Server vs Local Client Dyn AX, what is most efficient?

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Posted on by Sergio C.

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Hello everyone! 
I am looking for some kind of assistance or an indication of where to get information on what is most efficient when it comes to allow access to users with an application server installed on a remote data center. 
The evidence we have done shows that connections through Microsoft Terminal Server are much more efficient than the use of the Local Client of Dynamics AX. 
Someone has any tip? 
Thank you very much in advance.

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arijitbasu on at

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Hi,

If the latency between the client is as the minimum requirement for AX 4/ 2009 then its recommended to use AX Client. In other cases where the latency is higher, you should go in for WTS. Now for accessing AX via WTS, you also need to consider TS sizing and scaling. Hence its advisable to split between WTS & direct AX Access based on parameters like latency, bandwidth, network, load etc. Now if you are using WTS, you should also consider WTS Sizing & additional hardware guides , both which can be obtained from MS site.

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MohammedRasheed 1,405 on at

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Hi Sergio,

That is a really good reply by Arijit...

I just wanted to throw a few facts and figures that would help you make a more informed decision.

Advantages of using TS vs a Direct Link.

1.       A TS session consumes a lot less bandwidth.. on an average I think a ts session takes 25-30 kbps (for a reasonably responsive session), where a direct ax links eats up 65 – 80 kbps. Also latency has a much worse impact on a direct ax link, compared to a TS.. Generally speaking latency below 50ms is fairly acceptable (Note: MS recommend less than 5ms and a 100mbsp line).

2.       I personally find TS’s a lot easier to maintain..... Easier to apply service packs/hot fixes. can control user sessions, etc

Disadvantages of using TS Vs Direct Link.

1.       Domain Rules... usually data centres host the servers on different domain from the site (or the computer the user is actually using)... this isnt normally a problem.. but If your network rules aren’t setup right, then resource sharing (printers, scanners, etc) might become an issue... something to keep an eye out for....

2.       Actually on that note... be a extra bit carefully with printers....It’s better to have a dedicated print server that speaks directly to the terminal server...rather than carrying printers over user sessions.

3.       Study the impact of other software on the TS (specifically Office)...not only does this have a cost implication (office licenses, etc).. but also has an impact on performance..... the AX client requires around 90-120 mb of ram... add the memory consumption of the other applications running on the TS and then multiply by the total number of users... this can be a fairly large number....on an average you should not have more than 30 users per ts.

4.       Pst files are a completely different ball game.... if you not using crm (for contact/task/appointment) sych with outlook, then I would not recommend installing outlook on the terminal server.... you should be able to mail out standard reports as long as your connected to a working smtp.. look in to

http://dynamic-ax.co.uk/DynamicsAXEmailWithoutOutlook.aspx

Just because I have more point listed under the disadvantage section, dont not necessarily mean that TS is a bad option.... I would resonate Arijit’s words... its much better to have a direct link between all ax components... however, if your network can’t support this, then TS is a viable option.

Hope this help... please let us know if you have any more questions.

Regards,

Mohammed Rasheed

www.dynamic-ax.co.uk

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arijitbasu on at

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Hi,

In case u require some documents on Terminal Server Scaling, drop me an email and I'll send u some documents across. Mohammed Rasheed has also given a nice reply. Hope we have been able to help you.

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Soheil Aghazadeh 5 on at

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Hi Arijit,

If you have any document regarding Microsoft Terminal Server performance optimization for Dynamics AX 2009 Client I would like to have a copy.

Also do you have any known issue with the performance of AX client using Citrix?

thanks.

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Pradeep Itnal 3,248 on at

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@ Arjit,

Client of mine has users accessing ax 2012, accessing AX via EP or terminal services, via, ASIA, they are not sure what should be the ideal latency, do u have any numbers??? sorry i am completely blunt on this.

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Andrew Xu 3,877 on at

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Hi Arijit,

I'm implementing a AX 2012 project, and the client doesn't have good bandwidth. So we plan to use TS. Could you please send me some documents on TS scaling? Thanks.

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Sameer_NP 15 on at

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Thanks Arjit and Rasheed,

Very useful information. I have just been handed over the AX 2012 project and need to work on a couple of things immediately. Any help in this regard will be highly appreciated.

1. Best practices to set up Windows Server 2012 Terminal services for AX dynamics 2012 access. Apparently we had licensing issues with Windows server 2003 and AX 2009, when users were not closing their sessions properly. So what are the best practices to cover up these small hic ups.

2. If there is any comparison available between WTS and Citrix. At the moment we are testing with both and later we have to decide which one to go with.

Any documentation in this regard and useful links will be a big favor.

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Alok Joshi 540 on at

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Hi Arijit,

We are currently using Citrix + AX 2012 R2 (CU7) combination. However we are trying to evaluate the feasibility of using MTS + AX 2012 R2 (CU7).

I have checked the AX customer source, however could not find any helpful material on this topic. Appreciate if you can share the above mentioned docs with me?

Regards,

Alok

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Vilmos Kintera 46,149 on at

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There is no more Windows Terminal Server, starting from Windows Server 2008 and 2012 now you have Remote Desktop Services that consists of multiple components (gateway/license server/connector/hosts). Your RDS servers must be on the same isolated server network, close to the AOS, to avoid client communication latency. Then you can expose your RDS hosts through the gateway and some VPN for example for remote locations. We do publish AX as a RemoteApp, so it looks and acts like it is running on the local desktop, even if it is not.

There is no need to do any magic tweaking for your server. We do use the database method for the RDS connector to decide where do we have active users and where to channel new connections for load balancing. Then the AX AOS cluster configuration decides that to what AX AOS does the user connect. The RemoteApp has the AXC file as a parameter for Ax32.exe, where the servers are also listed.

As for documentation you could just use the generic ones publicly available with a Google/Bing search for RDS and RemoteApp, there is nothing special on publishing the AX client than any other RDS applications.

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