Member Avatar for se25

Hi,
Please excuse my knowledge as I am new to most of this.

I have a small office and mostly we work in the office, but due to health problem, one of the staff now need to work from home, I have heard of Remote Desktop and Terminal Servers but not totally sure as to how to implement this.
We currently have a 2012 Standard server but we can upgrade to 2016 Standard if needed to because I really need this remote feature, we are a small accountants firm and we uses mostly standard packages such as Sage and Tasbook, but there are also a few non-standard software for client taxes.

I am looking for a way to basically allow staffs when they login, either at work or from home, to see the same desktop/programs and mapped drives as if they always sit in the same location, we all have fibre broadband at home + work so speed shouldn't be a problem.

Could someone kindly explain how to and what do I need to purchase, or a link to a good youtude video for beginners.

Many thanks for any help given.

Mel.

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Dani AI

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Short primer added because is asking a very common question and the replies so far point in the right directions (: RDS needs planning; : third‑party tools can be easiest). Two practical paths meet your goal of “same desktop/programs/mapped drives”:

  1. Keep a single office PC per user and let them remote into that machine (cheap, fast to deploy). Enable Windows Remote Desktop on that PC (requires Windows Pro on the host) and place the connection behind a secure tunnel — VPN or a gateway — rather than opening RDP to the internet. (support.microsoft.com)

  2. Host everyone’s desktop/apps centrally with Remote Desktop Services (session desktop or RemoteApp). That delivers one consistent desktop for each user but is a planned project: you must install RDS roles, run an RDS licensing server and buy RDS CALs (per user or per device), size the server/VMs, and confirm each accounting package is supported in a terminal‑server environment. Plan to publish RDP only via RD Gateway (or VPN) and add MFA/NPS for security. (learn.microsoft.com)

Checklist for next steps

  • Confirm each application vendor (Sage, your tax tools) supports running on RDS/Terminal Services and note any extra licensing or performance guidance. (kb.sage.com)
  • If this is just one remote person, test a VPN + remote‑to‑office‑PC or a managed third‑party product for a month first — far cheaper than an RDS build.
  • If you intend multiple simultaneous remote users or need central file storage, budget for a proper RDS deployment (Windows Server, RDS CALs, backups, monitoring).
  • Never expose port 3389 directly to the internet; use RD Gateway/VPN + MFA, keep servers patched, and restrict accounts. (cisa.gov)

If time/budget is limited, trial a hosted remote‑access product or engage an MSP for a short design session to size RDS and check software licensing before buying CALs.

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Member Avatar for Sarah_29

Look up RemotePC. They got an easy solution for the novice user. Don;t need to spend anything or be a tech guru.

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