Licensing Microsoft Products in a Server-Based Desktop Infrastructure

Many organizations deploy server-based desktops based on Microsoft’s Windows Server Remote Desktop Services (RDS) or a similar solution from vendors such as Citrix or VMware. Because significant infrastructure is required to create and manage server-based desktops, even when an organization uses a third-party product as part of their overall server-based desktop solution, many Microsoft products must be correctly licensed to ensure that the overall server-based desktop solution will be compliant with all of Microsoft’s licensing rules.

The Infrastructure for Server-Based Desktops

All forms of server-based desktop require a similar infrastructure. (For a list of where these Microsoft products might be used in either a Microsoft or another vendor’s server-based desktop solution, see the chart “Common Server-Based Desktop Infrastructure Components“.)

This chapter has two goals: to identify which software, other than the Office Suite and the Windows OS, may be part of a server-based desktop infrastructure and to provide details of common compliance concerns that arise when the product is used as part of a server-based desktop infrastructure. The “Resources” section at the end of the report references additional reports where the complete set of rules for licensing each product can be found.