Optimal Number of users on 1 server : NComputing

The number of users that can connect to a host without affecting user expreince depends on the intended application suites and their CPU, memory and storage utilization . As the number of demanding applications that users want to run go up, the number of adequately supported users drop.

Ncomputing Did a test on a Core i7 test system , which was able to support roughly 60 users whose workload was comprised entirely of common office application usage. Once the use-case switched to video streaming however, the number of users that could be adequately supported by the same hardware specs dropped to 20.

The followiong Ncomputing use case and server host specifications can help you understand typical use case scenarios and number of users supported on some standard servers

Use Case Scenario

Use case Scenarios were divided into 3 categories. Low workload, medium workload and heavy workload. Two different video fidelity test data was also included by Ncomputing.  Your use case scenario may be entirely different than those mentioned here. You should measure CPU, memory and storage requirements of typical usecase for your users. 

Low Workload Scenario

• Microsoft Office® applications: one instance of Word and Excel® per user
• Adobe® Reader 10 — opening and viewing a PDF file
• Internet Explorer®, with two windows/tabs active

Medium Workload Scenario

• Microsoft Office applications: one instance of Word, Excel and PowerPoint® per user
• Adobe Reader 10 — opening and viewing a PDF file
• Internet Explorer, with three windows/tabs active

High Workload Scenario

• Microsoft Office applications: one instance of Word, Excel and PowerPoint per user
• Adobe Reader 10 — opening and viewing a PDF file
• Internet Explorer, with four windows/tabs active
• Video file (played in Windows Media Player) in a half-screen size window at 480p resolution

480p Video Stream (all users)

• Media Player Used: VLC Media Player
• Video used: "Beauty of Pixar" (480p, 24 fps, 24bit color)*

720p Video Stream (all users)

• Media Player Used: VLC Media Player
• Video used: "Beauty of Pixar" (720p, 24 fps, 24bit color)*

*NComputing's M300 and L300 series terminals feature the Numo chip, which allows for real-time hardware video scaling at no additional resource cost to the host. This means that users are free to resize video playback freely to cover any percentage of the screen including full screen playback without placing any additional burden on the host system or network. 

 Typical Maximum Number of  Users by Workload/Host Configuration

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This test Demonstrates that with the typical office workload , a mid range host can easily accomodate upto 45 users on one server. This number may differ in your case, depending upon the usage in your case and a usecase study will help you determine the number of optimal users for one server.