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Peripherals that affect performance

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Peripherals that affect performance

Hard-disk throughput also affects the performance of a terminal server. SCSI disk drives and adapters, especially devices compatible with Fast SCSI and SCSI-2, have significantly better throughput than ST-506, IDE, or ESDI disk drives and adapters.

For highest disk performance, consider using a SCSI RAID controller. RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) controllers place data on multiple disks to increase disk performance and improve data reliability.

Although the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) used with a terminal server causes minimal network load, a high-performance network adapter is recommended. This is particularly important if many users require either access to data stored on network servers or run client/server programs. Consider using two network adapters, dedicating one to RDP traffic only.

If a multiport asynchronous communication adapter is installed for supporting dial-up users, be sure to use an intelligent (microprocessor-based) adapter to both reduce interrupt overhead and increase throughput.

Applications can also affect performance. For more information, see Application performance.