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RDP Optimizations

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and later include bulk compressors that compress all data sent from the server to the client. These compressors can be enforced by the computer-wide Set compression algorithm for RDP data Group Policy setting.

The choice of compression algorithm impacts the memory and CPU consumption on the server and thus affects server scalability. RDP optimization can be configured to:

Use the least amount of memory
Use the least amount of network bandwidth
Balance between memory and network bandwidth utilization (default)

For Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Terminal Services\Terminal Server\Remote Session Environment and set compression algorithm for RDP data as follows:

Optimized to use less memory (RDP 5.2 or V1):

Bulk compressor from Windows Server 2003
Consumes more bandwidth than other compressors
Has the least memory and CPU overhead
Gives you the best server-side scalability

Balances network bandwidth and memory (RDP 6.0 or V2):

The default setting if the Group Policy setting is not configured
Balances between memory consumption and network bandwidth
Can reduce your bandwidth by 5–30 percent compared to the RDP 5.2 compressor

Optimized to use less network bandwidth (RDP 6.1 or V3):

A new compressor designed for Windows Server 2008
Tuned to give you the best network performance
Can reduce your bandwidth by 10–60 percent compared to the RDP 5.2 compressor

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/9/4d9ae285-3431-4335-a86e-969e7a146d1b/RDP_Performance_WhitePaper.docx

For Windows Server versions 2012/2012 R2/2016/2019

Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates \Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services \ Remote Desktop Session Host\ Remote Session Environment and configure compression for RemoteFX data as follows:

Optimized to use less memory. Consumes the least amount of memory per session but has the lowest compression ratio and therefore the highest bandwidth consumption.
Balances memory and network bandwidth. Reduced bandwidth consumption while marginally increasing memory consumption (approximately 200 KB per session).
Optimized to use less network bandwidth. Further reduces network bandwidth usage at a cost of approximately 2 MB per session. If you want to use this setting, you should assess the maximum number of sessions and test to that level with this setting before you place the server in production.

You can also choose not to engage a RemoteFX compression algorithm. This will use more network bandwidth and it is only recommended if you are using a hardware device that is designed to optimize network traffic. Even if you choose not to use a RemoteFX compression algorithm, some graphics data will still be compressed.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn567648(v=vs.85).aspx.

The following policy setting specifies whether the Remote Desktop Protocol will try to detect the network quality (bandwidth and latency): Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections\Select network detection on the server.

If you enable the above policy setting, you must select one of the following:

Connect Time Network Detect
Continuous Network Detect
Connect Time Detect
Continuous Network Detect

If you select Connect Time Network Detect, Remote Desktop Protocol will not try to determine the network quality at the connect time, and it will assume all traffic to this server originates from a low-speed connection.

If you select Continuous Network Detect, Remote Desktop Protocol will not try to adopt to changing network quality.

If you select Connect Time Detect and Continuous Network Detect, Remote Desktop Protocol will not try to determine the network quality at the connect time, it will assume all traffic to this server originates from a low speed connection and it will not try to adopt to changing network quality.

If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Remote Desktop Protocol will spend a few seconds trying to determine the network quality prior to the connection and it will continuously try to adopt to the network quality.

The following policy setting specifies whether the UDP protocol will be used for Remote Desktop Protocol access to this server: “Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates \Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services \ Remote Desktop Session Host\ Connections\Select RDP transport protocols".

If you enable the above policy setting, Remote Desktop Protocol traffic to this server will only use the TCP protocol. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Remote Desktop Protocol traffic to this server will use both the TCP and UDP protocols.