Best method to cluster and load balance Terminal Servers.

I thought Citrix was basically Terminal Server?

Citrix is beefed up terminal services.  It adds a lot of flexibility and features that do not exist in standard Terminal Services.  Load Balancing is just one of many things Citrix does much better than standard terminal services.

Is this a hardware or software based solution?

What's the going rate on this?

Is it just a management utility FOR Terminal Services or is it it's own build in server?

Do you know where I can find some white papers on this?

Sorry to backtrack, but I should mention that Windows 2008 Terminal Services is much better than 2003 in load balancing, so if upgrading to 2008 is an option and you are only looking to add load balancing to the mix, this would be the cheaper option.  Here is a review of Citrix vs Server 2008 terminal services:
http://www.networkcomputing.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206905616

Back to the question though, Citrix is primarily a software-based solution that you install onto a Windows Server - so you have to pay for licensing of both.  There is a Citrix client that is installed on each client device (PC, thin client, etc).  There are additional hardware solutions, for example application acceleration is handled by a hardware device - but the primary system is software installed onto your terminal servers.

Rate is not cheap... but its a matter of ROI.  My experience with Windows Terminal Services in a production environment is that I always push for Citrix - the added management and functionality capacity are the driving factors for this.  Citrix is to terminal services as Microsoft Office is to Office Productivity Software - the gold standard.

So, it is more than just a management utility, but it is not a seperate server build - Citrix sits ontop of and extends out of the box terminal services on a Windows Server.  

As for white papers, I will look around, but there is A LOT of information out there looking at this and many other subjects in terms of justifying the added expense of Citrix for a terminal services environment.  I will get back to you on that.

The information is very helpful.

I guess my biggest concern is Resource balancing over just Network balancing. I want performance to be a key player in this.

I hear 2008 Server can do load balancing with resources, but one of our applications are not supported under 2008 Terminal Server.

I also have found a few devices that might focus more on Resource balancing rather than some huge package like Citrix.

Well, I can tell you that load balancing in Windows 2003 terminal services (terminal server clustering) is based on sessions - there is a benchmark for the number of sessions on a given server - once that benchmark is reached, new sessions are offloaded to a less-utilized server in the cluster.  The issue I always hit there is the number of sessions on a server does not account for the resource usage of each session.  For example, if the session benchmark is set at 10 sessions per server, but one server has six sessions using 85% of that server's resources while the other two servers each have only 1 session using 10% of each servers resources, the clustering service will still see the first server as capable of adding another 4 sessions - overloading that server while the other two remain relatively unused.  As I said, this feature has been improved in Windows 2008, however still not to the level of Citrix where you can set more specific benchmarks for almost any type of resource consumption.  But again, its a matter of ROI - the significant expense of Citrix may not be worth it if you are only looking to add load balancing, although I am not familiar with any hardware or software based solution that handles this better.

As for network load balancing, this is an entirely different issue and concept altogether.  My guess is that with less than 50 users, you will never max out a single network interface, so network load balancing is a lost cause for you.  However, having your terminal servers on a different subnet from the fileservers is definitely a best practice.

I have found a few solutions, one here...

http://www.2x.com/loadbalancer/

$500 for 2 servers, and it supports resource balancing of CPU, User Sessions, and Memory.

I still need to read up on it.

If anyone else has any suggestions on some available tools for load balancing that would be great.

Citrix does seem like it might be overkill for what I want to accomplish.

Ok, well just an FYI, the 2x load balancer is a software based solution.  But yes, that would be much simpler than implementing Citrix from a cost and setup perspective.

While I don't have a problem using a software based solution, I rather not have to install it on the Terminal Server themselves out of fear of it being a resource hog.

I'm researching some hardware solutions right now.

I think "Load Balancer" is one I'm looking at now.

If you have any insight on these, your input would be very helpful.

The 2x solution can be installed on a separate server - or even on a Windows XP PC - so the resources would not be consumed on the terminal servers.  It seems like a viable solution, and 2x is a reputable company, so I would suggest you at least ask for a demo from one of their sales associates to learn more.  Perhaps there is even a 90 day trial or something you can set it up and see if its going to work for you before you pay for the licensing.

Yeah, it also has a client which doesn't seem to be a requirement.

"Clientless solutions would be nice"

I think I may demo this one out.

I guess my initial question was answered, but who should I credit the points to?

The reason I suggested Citrix to begin with is because you asked for the best method, which regardless I still feel Citrix is always the best method for terminal services.  But as far as I can tell, it has been just you and I discussing your issue on this thread, so if I answered/help you answer your question, you should credit me accordingly.  If you feel I did not answer the question, or you answered the question on your own, you can ask the moderators of the site to delete the question and refund your points.  Hope that helps :)