Hardware requirements
Parallels RAS is extensively tested on both physical and virtual platforms. The minimum hardware requirements approved to run Parallels RAS are outlined below.
Physical Machines – Dual Core Processor and a minimum of 4GB RAM.
Virtual Machines – Two Virtual Processors and a minimum of 4GB of RAM.
The server hardware requirements to install and configure Parallels RAS can vary according to end-user requirements.
Typically for an installation of 30 users or under, Parallels RAS can be installed on one high specification server and the resources published directly from it. For more than 30 users, multiple servers may be required.
The below should be considered during the planning stage of a Parallels RAS deployment:
High specification servers should be used, consisting of multiple CPU cores, a high specification disk transfer rate and plenty of RAM.
A hypervisor-based virtual machine can be used as long as the resources needed to serve end-users are calculated accordingly.
It is recommended that RAS Secure Gateway does not exceed 1200 users per server for incoming connections using the Gateway SSL mode.
HALB usage should not exceed 2000 user sessions per HALB appliance. See https://kb.parallels.com/125229.
When planning VDI Hypervisor resource requirements, extra requirements such as RAM usage per virtual machine and disk space should be taken into account.
When configuring RD Session Hosts, VDI, or Azure Virtual Desktop, please keep in mind that different types of workloads require different session host configurations. For the best possible experience, scale your deployment depending on your users' needs. The following table gives you an idea of how different workload types affect session host configurations.
Workload
Example users
Example apps
Max users per vCPU
Minimum
Light
Basic data entry tasks
Database entry applications, command-line interfaces
6
2 vCPUs
8 GB RAM
16 GB storage
Medium
Consultants and market researchers
Database entry applications, command-line interfaces, Microsoft Word, static web pages
4
4 vCPUs
16 GB RAM
32 GB storage
Heavy
Software engineers, content creators
Database entry applications, command-line interfaces, Microsoft Word, static web pages, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, dynamic web pages
2
4 vCPUs
16 GB RAM
32 GB storage
Power
Graphic designers, 3D model makers, machine learning researches
Database entry applications, command-line interfaces, Microsoft Word, static web pages, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, dynamic web pages, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CAD, CAM
1
6 vCPUs
56 GB RAM
340 GB storage
Note: Sizing guidelines are based on Microsoft recommendations on RDS or Azure Virtual Desktop multi-session hosts.
For port requirements, please see the Port Reference section.