JSI Tip 3499. Your Terminal Services client can't connect to a Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster TCP/IP address?

When a client tries to connect to the cluster TCP/IP address, on a server that is running NLB and Terminal Services, they receive:

The client could not connect to the Terminal server. The server may be too busy. Please try connecting later.

NOTE: The client can connect to the host address of the Terminal Services server.

The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) can only 'listen' on one IP address or on all IP addresses.

If RDP is enabled on all adapters, running netstat -an shows that port 3389 is listening on TCP/IP address 0.0.0.0. If RDP is enabled on one adapter, running netstat -an shows that only the first TCP/IP address is listening on port 3389.

To workaround this issue, use either of the following:

Method A.

1. Open Terminal Services Configuration in Administrative Tools.

2. Double-click RDP-Tcp in the right-hand pane.

3. Select the Network Adapter tab.

4. Check the All network adapters configured with this protocol box.

Method B.

List the cluster IP address as the primary IP address for the NIC. This prevents access to the Terminal Services server host address, but enables NLB functionality.