# Keep each RDS session collection at a consistent Windows Server version

> Can different Windows Server versions coexist within one RDS session collection?

- Canonical URL: https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/dse-20260908-064-keep-each-rds-session-collection-at-a-consistent-windows-server-version/
- Publisher: Detection Systems & Engineering (DSE Security)
- Author: DSE Security Editorial Team
- Published: 2026-09-08T18:16:07+00:00
- Modified: 2026-09-08T18:20:22+00:00
- Last reviewed by DSE: 2026-09-08
- Resource type: Guide
- DSE priority: Information
- Topics: IT, Networks & Infrastructure
- Reading time: 1 minutes

## What you need to know

Can different Windows Server versions coexist within one RDS session collection?

## Potentially affected

Use this review when designing or auditing a mixed-version RDS environment.

## DSE recommendation

Build a collection-membership matrix rather than relying on a deployment-wide list of servers.

## Article

## Source facts

Microsoft requires the Session Hosts within one collection to use the same version level, while allowing separate collections. Connection Brokers in a highly available deployment must also share an operating-system level. The source’s compatibility example allows a Windows Server 2022 Session Host with a Windows Server 2025 Broker, but not the reverse pairing. [Microsoft documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-supported-config).

## Applicability

Use this review when designing or auditing a mixed-version RDS environment. Identify every collection, its member hosts, and the brokers serving it. Check the current interoperability tables for the actual proposed combinations.

## DSE recommendation

Build a collection-membership matrix rather than relying on a deployment-wide list of servers. Have the RDS owner confirm the intended version for each collection and the consistent level of the broker group. Review any newly added host against that matrix before admitting user sessions. Keep a subsequent migration or upgrade sequence separately planned from this supported steady-state design.

## Verification

Inspect actual collection membership and operating-system versions, then test representative sessions through the intended broker path. Record the specific host and collection serving each test. Resolve an inconsistent collection or unsupported broker pairing before adding more hosts. Retain the accepted matrix with the deployment inventory and review it after membership changes.

## Official references

[Microsoft Learn: Supported Configurations for Remote Desktop Services](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-supported-config). Source reviewed September 8, 2026.

## Primary reference

- Name: Supported Configurations for Remote Desktop Services
- Authority: Microsoft Learn
- URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/rds-supported-config
- Source publication date: Not stated by the source

## Citation and use

Preferred citation: “Keep each RDS session collection at a consistent Windows Server version,” DSE Security, https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/dse-20260908-064-keep-each-rds-session-collection-at-a-consistent-windows-server-version/
Publishing principles: https://update.dsesecurity.com/updates/dse-updates-editorial-methodology/
Usage and citation policy: https://update.dsesecurity.com/usage/
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