Server / AC Questions

[Anonymous]

I am NEW to AC and I need some information on servers.
Background:
I work for an architect and we have two new building projects.
I am currently using AutoCAD to design the buildings in 3D and I want to make the switch to a BIM / parametric program. I currently do not have AC, or know anything about it.

Misc info:
I am currently the only CAD guy and will need to hire between 4 and 8 AC users and also learn AC. I will need a server big enough to handle this traffic, other office users and be capable of being upgraded.
I have browsed this forum for a few hours and I am unsure of where to look to get the information I want.
I also talked to our IT guy and he will talk to a server guy, but he wants to know the answer to the questions below.

Questions:
I would like to know if I can put all of our AC files on a server. If so, what type of server? How big? Which servers are compatible with AC?

Thanks,
Jason

[TomWaltz]

Gyarfas wrote:
Misc info:
I am currently the only CAD guy and will need to hire between 4 and 8 AC users and also learn AC. I will need a server big enough to handle this traffic, other office users and be capable of being upgraded.
I have browsed this forum for a few hours and I am unsure of where to look to get the information I want.
I also talked to our IT guy and he will talk to a server guy, but he wants to know the answer to the questions below.

Questions:
I would like to know if I can put all of our AC files on a server. If so, what type of server? How big? Which servers are compatible with AC?

I think we need a bit more information about your systems.

What operating system are you running? How many people do you have working there? How much storage space do you need just to store your current files?

To give you a couple guidelines:
Expect Archicad files to be in the 20 to 50 MB range. If you can get Gigabit ethernet, go for it. It will allow you to save faster.
Plan for a backup system to be attached to your file server and expect it to run every night. Nothing like losing a file you've been working on for a week.
Plan on having project-specific object libraries and perhaps an office-specific one as well. These will be on the server as well. These will probably not be over 2 or 3 MB, but are loaded every time you open a project.

[Anonymous]

Tom,

We are currently running Win XP 32 bit OS on all pcs.
We plan to have between 15-20 pcs on the network all accessing the server, with possibly adding another 20. Half is CAD the other half is office files / users.

CAD PC specs will be:
Dual xeon 3.4gh processors
4 gigs ddr2 SDRAM
256mb Nvidia quartro fx3450 video
dual 73GB SCSI U320 10K RPM Hard Drive with U320 SCSI controller.
(it might be overkill, but if I can get it why not)

Not sure what type of Ethernet. I heard the IT guy mention CAT5-E.
Back up is definitely planned.

If I design a 675 ft building in 3D with working and construction documents what can I expect the CAD file sizes to be?

We currently have about 100GB's of data, but I am expecting we will need allot of space with the ability to upgrade. I think we could start with around 400GB, but I have no clue. Size and space is not a problem, cost is not a problem either within reason.

I want to make sure we get what ever is compatible with AC.

Thanks again.

[TomWaltz]

Gyarfas wrote:
CAD PC specs will be:
Dual xeon 3.4gh processors
4 gigs ddr2 SDRAM
256mb Nvidia quartro fx3450 video
dual 73GB SCSI U320 10K RPM Hard Drive with U320 SCSI controller.
(it might be overkill, but if I can get it why not)

Sounds like a solid machine. I have 1.5 GB of RAM and have never maxxed out, even running two sessions of Archicad.

Not sure what type of Ethernet. I heard the IT guy mention CAT5-E.

That's the type of cable. The network speed is usually specced in "BaseT" format, such as 10BaseT, 100BaseT and 1000BaseT (which is Gigabit). The number is how many bits per second are ver the network.

A lot of people right now do 100BaseT because it's cheaper and works fine for word processing and spreadsheet documents. With this kind of file size, the 1000BaseT makes a big difference.

If I design a 675 ft building in 3D with working and construction documents what can I expect the CAD file sizes to be?

It depends on the number of floors and the depth. I have a 360x125' building that is 14 floors and is about 190 MB.

We currently have about 100GB's of data, but I am expecting we will need allot of space with the ability to upgrade. I think we could start with around 400GB, but I have no clue. Size and space is not a problem, cost is not a problem either within reason.

Looking at up to 40 people, you could fill that up pretty quickly. At 55 people, we just installed a 2 TB file server. It's about 30% full.

I want to make sure we get what ever is compatible with AC.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a modern server that is not compatible with Archicad. It's really more a question of whether the network configuration is compatible and if both the network and the file server can handle the load.

I've seen Archicad run on Win2003, Mac OS X, and Linux servers and they all worked fine.

I'll warn you now that I've heard a lot of stories about Norten anti-virus fiighting with Archicad Teamwork. Maybe someone else on the list could fill in more detail on that?

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Tom.
I will keep you up to date on any more info I receive and will forward this to our IT guy.

[Anonymous]

i use the symantec anti virus which is the owner of nortans and it has never caused a problem with ac for me.

[Anonymous]

Tom,

Our network speed is 100mb. It has been tested @ 350mb.
What is your recommend hardware solution? Or what do you currently use?
What type of storage sub-system do you recommend?
What is your current network configuration? (ex. SAN / NAS storage on Windows?)

Our IT guy wants to compare multiple types and find out what will best suit our needs.

Thanks again.

[Aussie John]

For the actual server - rather than users machine the Dual 73GB disk size seems small. You will need at least two to include your nightly backup. With that many users and large files you might consider an IDE Disk RAID solution. IDE disks are cheap to replace and upgrade. I suspect it might cheaper than going for SCSI . Same goes for the users machines - do you really need dual SCSI?

Dare I say it but I believe the Mac Xserve and raid solutions are the cheapest server solutions and run with PCs. Not least when you consider software licences for 40+ users
Also does a server need that much RAM as mainly it shovels files from disk to disk.
Think about the potential bottlenecks and the network speed could be one of them. multiple users downloading and saving files will collide at times. I would look at the 1000BaseT (All Macs except mini and iBook are already 1000BaseT) and am sure it will be PCs standard soon. I believe the hardware switch is much cheaper today.
Servers are not my forte so apologies for any generalisations

[TomWaltz]

Gyarfas wrote:
Tom,

Our network speed is 100mb. It has been tested @ 350mb.
What is your recommend hardware solution? Or what do you currently use?
What type of storage sub-system do you recommend?
What is your current network configuration? (ex. SAN / NAS storage on Windows?)

Our IT guy wants to compare multiple types and find out what will best suit our needs.

Thanks again.

We're using a Linux server running on a 1000BaseT network. It has an internal 2.8 TB RAID 5 array with a live mirror machine.

A fibre optic line runs from it to two 50-port manageable switches, one for each floor of our building.

[__archiben]

TomWaltz wrote:
I'll warn you now that I've heard a lot of stories about Norten anti-virus fiighting with Archicad Teamwork. Maybe someone else on the list could fill in more detail on that?

there used to be when archiCAD's temporary files had the extension '*.scratch' (in the 8.0 and early 8.1 days). antivirus software only interpreted the first three letters of the extension, *.scr, which we all know as a file type that often arrives in e-mailed junk containing a virus . . . norton duly cleaned it all up and archiCAD was left looking for it's temporary files . . .

i haven't heard of any norton/archiCAD issues since graphisoft changed the temporary file type conventions. BUT i have heard lots of 'norton breaks my mac' stories. probably not an issue in gyarfas' case . . .

cheers
~/archiben