Cannot Create a Local File

I read about a couple items in a thread at RFO that could affect creating a Local File in addition to to what I've mentioned in the past.

Revit appends our username to the local file it creates for us. That addition could cause a local file's name to exceed the maximum number of characters, which is 260 (file name and path). That's 256 plus the four characters associated with the drive letter, for example C:\ (space/null after the back slash).

The other possibility mentioned is having Auto Off-line Access enabled.

Gosh computers and software are fussy buggers!

Revit and Your Computer Network

Is my Network optimized for Revit? Maybe? A real answer is more than a brief post can cover. These are a few things to avoid.

Don't...

• Put Voice over IP (VOIP)on the same server
• Put Exchange Server (email services) on the same server
• Put any other resource hungry applications on the same server
• Assume that because accessing Word and Excel files work great that Revit will be
• Buy expensive hardware (like Riverbed equipment) without investing in the implementation of it too
• Ignore server side patches and updates
• Trivialize computer networking and technology

For example, I've occasionally run into small offices that are using a workstation as their server (peer to peer). This is usually a bit taxing on its resources and the OS of a workstation is not optimized for concurrent users and sharing data as well as a server OS. It can be even worse if that workstation is expected to run Revit too. If that were the case then I'd expect to run into saving and "access" conflicts quite often.

Assuming we're using a real server for Revit project files we can still benefit from putting Revit projects on a dedicated server. Don't make Revit compete with resource hungry applications or, if using a dedicated server, any other applications. That's a recipe for "muffins that won't rise". Hopefully your firm has a great EyeTee admin looking after your computers and Network. If not, then consider changing your current situation soon.

Revit Server Documents

If you visit the wikihelp site for Autodesk Revit Server you'll find (if you look closely) these documents are available for your use/review.

Bandwidth Requirements for Revit Server
Cost-Effective Revit Server Deployments
Locking and Worksharing in Revit Server
Revit Server 2012
Revit Server and Riverbed Steelhead
Understanding Revit Server
User of Revit Server on High Latency Networks

Revit and WAFS

Okay two posts with funny acronyms in a row, sorry! The previous one was playing around but this one is real, Wide Area File Services (WAFS).

I spoke with Marc at Globalscape yesterday. They have been providing services for file replication/mirroring (among other things) for many years but recently they've been focusing on solving the Revit central file collaboration situation. More and more firms are trying to share work among their own offices as well as among other consulting firms. The first is a little easier to solve when the firm is dealing with its own wide area network ("intranet" WAN). The second is harder, harder still when firms are not able to share a common network resource regardless.

What is intriguing about them is that it is a software solution applied to project servers. One firm takes the lead as primary and purchases software ("agents") equal to the number of team member firms involved. The primary firm's project hub server gets its own server side software agent. The lead firm distributes agents to each firm that is part of the team. This hub server and the other agents manage Jobs (shared projects and their folders) and use a Vault (file access data) that keeps the single central file replicated at each agent site.

From their "BIM meets WAN" site page:

...snip...

Facilitating multi-user, multi-site collaboration is often one of the most challenging obstacles for organizations. When you pair Autodesk® Revit® Worksharing capabilities with GlobalSCAPE WAFS users from locations across the world can access and share files over a WAN at LAN speeds. This means faster and more reliable element borrowing and multi-user access to entire worksets.

More specifically, file replication ensures current copies of the central files and worksets exist at all locations that require collaboration. Real-time file locking prevents users from concurrently borrowing the same workset or entity. Once a user is finished, the common Save-to-Central command publishes changes back to the local central file copy, and then WAFS instantly mirrors those changes and unlocks the workset at all sites on the network.

...snip...

From the Revit user perspective they really have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. They create local files, work and synchronize with central as usual. The software does the work behind the scenes. They can use Revit's companion application Worksharing Monitor to see what other users are up to which is invaluable when teams are spread far and wide.

Interested in learning more? Visit their website. They have a couple documents you can review (though I couldn't find convenient links on the site for them) and a video you can watch.

Cloud Computing at AECBytes

AECBytes released an article, called "BIM and the Cloud", by Chris France, CIO of Little Diversified, discussing their technology shift to Private Cloud computing. Essentially they have high end servers and Remote Desktop Server technology providing anywhere anytime access to their IT resources to any of their staff and/or partners. That's an over simplification of the effort taken certainly.

It is a compelling solution for firms faced with remote staff, various offices, workstation performance and maintenance and other reasons. The article claims that they are the first AEC implementation of this approach but it doesn't say when they started doing this. Just to quibble I've been in at least one other firm that has been doing this for quite awhile but just hasn't declared it publicly. A consulting firm that I do some work for also has this set up now but not on the scale of these others. Regardless it is cool stuff and challenges the status quo as well as opening the door to many possibilities.

Check out the ARTICLE, it is well written and provides enough depth to help even a lay person get a good sense of how it all works.