Can I limit user bandwidth/ram usage/CPU usage in Windows 2003/2008/2008 R2?

Question

I would like to limit the resource usage on a per user basis on a Windows Server 2003, 2008, or 2008 R2 machine. Suppose I have four users logged into one machine using TS and they are all using various resources. How do I make sure that each user gets his fair share?

Some examples of resources that I might want to limit are bandwidth (as-in speed), RAM usage, CPU usage, and bandwidth usage (as-in so many GB per month).

I know how to do this on Linux, but I am unfamiliar with Windows administration tools. I do not have access to anything upstream of the machine.

Solution 1

You can try Windows System Resource Manager. I don't believe you can control bandwidth but you can control CPU and memory usage.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/management/wsrm/default.mspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771218(WS.10).aspx

Solution 2

For complete bandwidth control you will most likely need to setup a proxy with authentication, and give separate login/password pairs to your users. This way you will control both speed and total traffic consumed per month.

Look for something like Kerio, ISA, Wingate, 3proxy, Freeproxy. Squid could be capable of doing that, too.

Comments

[Ravindu Fernando]

On linux, I'd just force everything through squid. Is there a way to do this on windows without requiring manual authentication?

[chronos]

That I do not have specific experience with. If you use Active Directory, then squid is still the option: wiki.squid-cache.org/ConfigExamples/Authenticate/… . From what I've seen for FreeProxy and Sun Proxy, AD seems to be the only viable authentication option. Just found this one: softperfect.com/products/bandwidth , from the screenshots looks like the simplest tool which fits your requirements.

[chronos]

There is a somewhat related question here serverfault.com/questions/15429/squid-equivalent-for-windows

[Nick Kavadias]

+1 wsrm fits the use case perfectly!