RDS Connection Server Settings

The RDS Connection Server group policy settings let users set policies for Connection Server.

The Horizon 7 RDS group policy settings are installed in the Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > RD Connection Broker folder.

Table 1. RDS Connection Server Group Policy Settings

Setting	Description
Join RD Connection Broker	Use this policy setting to specify whether the RDS host should join a farm in Connection Server that is installed on an RDS host. Connection Server on an RDS host tracks user sessions and allows a user to reconnect to their existing session in a load-balanced RDS farm. To participate in Connection Server on an RDS host, the Remote Desktop Session Host role service must be installed on the RDS host. If the policy setting is enabled, the RDS host joins the farm that is specified in the "Configure RD Connection Broker Farm Name" setting. The farm exists on the Connection Server that is specified in the "Configure RD Connection Broker Server name" policy setting. If you disable this policy setting, the RDS host does not join a farm in Connection Server, and user session tracking is not performed. If the setting is disabled, you cannot use either the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider to join the RDS host to Connection Server. If the policy setting is not configured, the setting is not specified at the Group Policy level. In this case, you can configure the RDS host to join Connection Server on the RDS host by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Note: f you enable this setting, you must also enable the "Configure RD Connection Broker Farm Name" and "Configure RD Connection Broker Server name" policy settings, or configure these settings by using either the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. For Windows Server 2008, this policy setting is supported on at least Windows Server 2008 Standard.
Configure RD Connection Broker farm name	Use this policy setting to specify the name of a farm to join in the Connection Server for an RDS host. Connection Server uses the farm name to determine which RDS hosts are in the same RDS farm. Therefore, you must use the same farm name for all RDS hosts in the same load-balanced farm. The farm name does not have to correspond to a name in Active Directory Domain Services. If you specify a new farm name, a new farm is created in Connection Server for the RDS host. If you specify an existing farm name, the RDS host joins that farm in the Connection Server on the RDS host. If you enable this policy setting, you must specify the name of a farm in Connection Server for the RDS host. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the farm name is not specified by Group Policy. In this case, you can adjust the farm name by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Note: For Windows Server 2008, this policy setting is supported on at least Windows Server 2008 Standard. This setting is not effective unless both the "Join RD Connection Broker" and the "Configure RD Connection Broker server name" settings are enabled and configured by using Group Policy, the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool, or the Terminal Services WMI provider.
Use IP Address Redirection	Use this policy setting to specify the redirection method to use when a client device reconnects to an existing Remote Desktop Services session in a load-balanced RDS farm. This setting applies to an RDS host that is configured to use the Connection Server on an RDS host and not to the Connection Server on a remote desktop. If you enable this policy setting, a Remote Desktop Services client queries the Connection Server on the RDS host and is redirected to an existing session by using the IP address of the RDS host where the session exists. To use this redirection method, client computers must be able to connect directly by IP address to the RDS host in the farm. If you disable this policy setting, the IP address of the RDS host is not sent to the client. Instead, the IP address is embedded in a token. When a client reconnects to the load balancer, the routing token is used to redirect the client to the existing session on the correct RDS host in the farm. Only disable this setting when your network load-balancing solution supports the use of RDS host Connection Server routing tokens and you do not want clients to directly connect by IP address to the RDS host in the load-balanced farm. If you do not configure this policy setting, the "Use IP address redirection" setting in the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool is used. By default, this setting in the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool is enabled. Note: For Windows Server 2008, this policy setting is supported on at least Windows Server 2008 Standard.
Configure RD Connection Broker Server name	Use this policy setting to specify the Connection Server that the RDS host uses to track and redirect user sessions for a load-balanced RDS farm. The specified RDS host must be running the Connection Server service. All RDS hosts in a load-balanced farm should use the same Connection Server. If you enable this policy setting, you must specify the Connection Server for the RDS host, using either its host name, IP address, or fully qualified domain name. If you specify a name or IP address for the Connection Server that is not valid, an error message is logged in Event Viewer on the RDS host. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, you can adjust the RDS host Connection Server name or IP address by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Note: For Windows Server 2008, this policy setting is supported on Windows Server 2008 Standard. This policy setting is not effective unless the "Join RD Connection Broker" policy setting is enabled or the RDS host is configured to join the Connection Server on the RDS host by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. To be an active member of a Connection Server enabled session on an RDS farm, the computer account for each RDS host in the farm must be a member of the "Session Directory Computers" local group on the Connection Server for the RDS host.
Use RD Connection Broker load balancing	Use this policy setting to specify whether to use the load balancing feature in Connection Server on an RDS host to balance the load between servers in an RDS farm. If you enable this policy setting, Connection Server on an RDS host redirects users who do not have an existing session to the RDS host in the farm with the fewest sessions. Redirection behavior for users with existing sessions is not affected. If the server is configured to use Connection Server on an RDS host, users who have an existing session are redirected to the RDS host where their session exists. If you disable this policy setting, users who do not have an existing session log on to the first RDS host to which they connect. If you do not configure this policy setting, you can configure the RDS host to participate in Connection Server load balancing for the RDS host by using the Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration tool or the Terminal Services WMI provider. Note: If you enable this policy setting, you must also enable the "Join RD Connection Broker", the "Configure RD Connection Broker farm name", and the "Configure RD Connection Broker server name" policy settings.