Remote desktop and Teamviewer are slow on Windows vServers

A vServer is as the name suggests a virtual server. These vServers are usually very cheap and of course can be used not only for Linux, but also for Windows servers.

However, if you want to work on such Windows vServers via Remote Desktop or Teamviewer, you will be surprised to find that the session is “slower” than it normally is.

This performance problem is due to the lack of 2D/3D graphics acceleration. Because without at least virtual 2D graphics acceleration, generating the desktop view on the server already takes more time, which in combination with the latency ends up feeling unbearably slow.

With a few vServer providers, it is also possible to book an offer with 2D graphics acceleration as a paid extra. However, this is the exception and leads the price/performance ratio ad absurdum.

It is therefore certainly recommended for Windows server environments with extensive use of RDP or other remote maintenance tools to have a dedicated server, advantageously with a graphics unit integrated into the CPU.