Remote Desktop Licenses Enable Blade PCs

Growing interest in blade PCs—standardized, rack-mounted computers running Windows XP Professional—has prompted Microsoft to develop a special license for the Remote Desktop technology included with the OS. Like the blade servers frequently used for high-capacity Web sites, and like remote access through Windows Server’s Terminal Services feature, remote access to blade PCs offers centralized control of hardware and applications. However, in most cases Terminal Services will be less costly, more manageable, and more flexible.

The Blade PC Architecture

Around in one form or another since about 1997, blade PC hardware is very similar (and can even be identical) to blade servers: single-card computers that fit into slots in a rack-mounted enclosure or “crate.” The enclosure provides redundant power supplies, network connectivity, ventilation, and cable management for 20 or more blades.

As servers, such devices are popular for high-volume Web hosting: a single rack about two feet wide and six feet high can hold about eight enclosures, each holding 20 blades, each blade hosting 100 Web sites, for a total of more than 15,000 logical Web servers in a relatively small space.