I am trying to set up an online storage "server" that will act like a typical office server, ie notify users if autocad files or other files are in use in other locations.
Mostly autocad and Microsoft for now Revit in the near future.
Having a physical architecture firm seems unnecessary if you're a small firm. As the owner it seems insane to rent an office and commute to it everyday but we have people who work for us in other locations so solving this issue is paramount to making a virtual office a reality.
Revit works best with a server, if you have a system where you need to retrieve the file and download it to work on it you will mess up your links, and your internet best not have any disruptions while syncing files
you would have to trust the internet service provider on both ends to provide a stable and fast connection at all times. that's just not going to happen at a residential level.
many people trust cloud storage for backup of proprietary data.
We've used dropbox for the last three years for our four person office. I back up to a hard drive over wifi nightly. We will very rarely have over-writing problems, but generally it's worked fine. For a small, low-overhead office, it's great.
The big thing to keep in mind is that when using Dropbox or most services like it (Google Drive, OneDrive, etc...) The data is typically cached in the background so you don't feel the upload/download lag... Revit does not like this... Especially when worksharing... It WILL corrupt your file.
Thanks everyone. I'll look into the NAS option. I was considering Egnyte, it appears to solve most of the issues but the NAS does as well. I understand people's resistance to change and mistrust of the net but this is the way the world is going. I think the next generation or two of architects are going to fight being tied to an office chair so we should probably figure this out. It seems to be the last hurtle in blowing up the pod farms most of us started in. For a group who creatively solve problems we tend to resist change worse than the Feds and devalue life work balance to the point of insanity. We will see, but I'd like to wait it out in the back yard with a beer while everyone else is sitting in traffic
Tried engyte last night. Wouldn't recommend. Slow and didn't notify when files were open. Which was the point. Will stick with google drive or drop box until we switch to revit. Thanks for the info revit kid I'll try your solution before I go down the 360 path. Do you have a lot of lag in your set up?
x intern, it depends on what you are doing and the speed of both networks. For example, in my home (within the LAN) it is like a hard drive within my computer itself. Very fast.
If I am in a coffee shop that has decent speeds, it is also fairly quick (not AS quick but still little lag). Using the file server itself is always pretty quick but the internet has a big impact on Revit Worksharing.
If I am in a place with already slow internet then yes, you feel lag when saving large models but still not that bad. As I mention in the blog post, Revit Server is available for free and enhances the worksharing option with this setup.
As with anything in the cloud or over an internet connection it is all about the bandwidth.
it can also depend if you're connecting directly to the source, or through the internet, which can bounce you around a fair bit. then lots of connections have to be fast and stable instead of just 2.
also, you're both uploading and downloading, so you need a decent full duplex symmetric connection instead of those horrible 10/1 or whatever.
May 25, 16 12:49 pm ·
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cloud based storage
I am trying to set up an online storage "server" that will act like a typical office server, ie notify users if autocad files or other files are in use in other locations.
Mostly autocad and Microsoft for now Revit in the near future.
Having a physical architecture firm seems unnecessary if you're a small firm. As the owner it seems insane to rent an office and commute to it everyday but we have people who work for us in other locations so solving this issue is paramount to making a virtual office a reality.
Revit works best with a server, if you have a system where you need to retrieve the file and download it to work on it you will mess up your links, and your internet best not have any disruptions while syncing files
we use dropbox and it has been problem free for the last five years.
I would not use a cloud server for any proprietary data unless I owned and controlled that server. Period.
you would have to trust the internet service provider on both ends to provide a stable and fast connection at all times. that's just not going to happen at a residential level.
many people trust cloud storage for backup of proprietary data.
We've used dropbox for the last three years for our four person office. I back up to a hard drive over wifi nightly. We will very rarely have over-writing problems, but generally it's worked fine. For a small, low-overhead office, it's great.
If you are thinking about using Rvit in the future and worksharing the models this is my current setup...
http://therevitkid.blogspot.com/2016/04/my-300-revit-server.html
Oops, I mean *Revit....
The big thing to keep in mind is that when using Dropbox or most services like it (Google Drive, OneDrive, etc...) The data is typically cached in the background so you don't feel the upload/download lag... Revit does not like this... Especially when worksharing... It WILL corrupt your file.
Thanks everyone. I'll look into the NAS option. I was considering Egnyte, it appears to solve most of the issues but the NAS does as well. I understand people's resistance to change and mistrust of the net but this is the way the world is going. I think the next generation or two of architects are going to fight being tied to an office chair so we should probably figure this out. It seems to be the last hurtle in blowing up the pod farms most of us started in. For a group who creatively solve problems we tend to resist change worse than the Feds and devalue life work balance to the point of insanity. We will see, but I'd like to wait it out in the back yard with a beer while everyone else is sitting in traffic
x intern, it depends on what you are doing and the speed of both networks. For example, in my home (within the LAN) it is like a hard drive within my computer itself. Very fast.
If I am in a coffee shop that has decent speeds, it is also fairly quick (not AS quick but still little lag). Using the file server itself is always pretty quick but the internet has a big impact on Revit Worksharing.
If I am in a place with already slow internet then yes, you feel lag when saving large models but still not that bad. As I mention in the blog post, Revit Server is available for free and enhances the worksharing option with this setup.
As with anything in the cloud or over an internet connection it is all about the bandwidth.
it can also depend if you're connecting directly to the source, or through the internet, which can bounce you around a fair bit. then lots of connections have to be fast and stable instead of just 2.
also, you're both uploading and downloading, so you need a decent full duplex symmetric connection instead of those horrible 10/1 or whatever.
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