I have two servers each running Windows Server 2016 installed on a local area network. I'll just refer to the servers as server 1 and server 2. Server 1 is the RDS licensing server. Server 2 is a database host and file and print share server. We purchased 5 Remote Desktop CALs and installed/activated the RDS licenses on server 1. The Remote Desktop is configured to issue the CALs on a per user basis.
We have a relatively small operation and do not require an Active Directory. Our users typically work from their local computers but 3-5 people have to log onto server 2 to access their database. They used the built in windows utility for Remote Desktop connections (mstsc.exe). This worked for awhile until I received an error saying there were no remote desktop servers available on server 1 about 120 days after we initially installed the servers. I found a registry hack to delete a timeout for remote desktop activation. Everything was fine again for about another 120 days.
When the 120 days hit again it was over a weekend and suddenly only 2 concurrent users can log into server 2 and no users could log onto server 1. Geographically the servers, the users and I are separated by an ocean! I was able to get back in and modify the registry again and server 1 is working but server 2 still only recognizes 2 concurrent users. I've tried to remove and add RDS roles to the servers but I still cannot get server 2 past this problem. My question is, how can I make server 2 look for the CALs on server 1 while keeping the servers in a Workgroup environment? I've read so many articles but nothing helps me with this.
Much thanks for your help!