I recently set up a "micro" size Windows 2008 Datacenter server on Amazon AWS. My small group needs several concurrent RDS users to be able to access the machine. Without installing the "Remote Desktop Server" role, it allows 2 concurrent connections. I read on MS' website that in order to set up multiple users, we needed to install the RDS role. I did so, but now the application we are trying to share is running much slower than it was before. Prior to the role installation, it was taking about 5 seconds to open; now it is taking a few minutes to open -- without any other users logged on except me. My assumption is that the RDS role may be too much for this micro instance to handle, and currently, changing to another size instance is not an option (it may be possible later if we were to receive enough funding). This leads me to the following questions: 1) Is it a sensible assessment to assume that it is the RDS role is slowing things down, or are there other things that I could look at to speed it up? We are talking about a machine with ~600MB of memory. 2) If I revert back to the pre-RDS role, is there any legitimate way (in terms of purchasing RDS licenses) to get more than 2 concurrent desktops? I did read this, and am not questioning that the answerer is knowlegeable; but someone else may have some other experience. I am also making it clear that we want to do this in a legitimate way. Thanks in advance for any assistance that can be provided! EDIT: if it is helpful in answering the question, the application in question is a Lotus Approach database. Also, I am asking this from a technical perspective: not a legal one. I want to know if it is possible to install valid licenses without the RDS role.