Server architecture for good performance?

Hi.

I'm IT manager in an organization with many microstation and powercivil users. These users are located on 5 different offices in Denmark and Sweden. Our hosting center is located i Taastrup Denmark.

Our architecture is built up around DFS (distributed file system) between Taastrup and servers on the local branches in the 5 offices. The 5 branch servers are only placed at the local branch for the single reason to make good performance for our microstation and powercivil users. The users have previously tried to work "remote" on the server in Taastrup, but performance was weak since the applications write to the database all the time, so therefore the branch server setup with DFS was established.

The setup with 5 branch servers is quite costly, so my question is: is our server setup best practice for microstation and powercivil users or can we make some optimizations in order to keep costs down but still have good performance for our users?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Morten

Parents
  • Morten,

    Your current architecture is a common configuration for MicroStation and PowerCivil users in different locations. Some organizations try to centralize everything on a single server, while others push everything out on to the individual workstations. There are many factors to consider in setting up your configuration, here are a few:

    • Does each branch have a mix of both MicroStation and PowerCivil users?
    • Are they using the same workspaces and accessing the same standard files (cell libs, dgnlibs, etc.)?
    • Do you have to support different workspaces and standards for different clients?
    • Are files/projects shared across multiple branches?
    • Do you have to support different disciplines with different requirements such as Survey, Roadway Design, Structures, etc.?

    I've been in this business for over 30 years, on both the IT side and the CAD side. The one constant I've seen in my experience is that IT managers tend do know very little about CAD and that you can't treat MicroStation, PowerCivil, and related applications the same way you do Microsoft Office and other common desktop applications.

    Rod Wing
    Senior Systems Analyst

Reply
  • Morten,

    Your current architecture is a common configuration for MicroStation and PowerCivil users in different locations. Some organizations try to centralize everything on a single server, while others push everything out on to the individual workstations. There are many factors to consider in setting up your configuration, here are a few:

    • Does each branch have a mix of both MicroStation and PowerCivil users?
    • Are they using the same workspaces and accessing the same standard files (cell libs, dgnlibs, etc.)?
    • Do you have to support different workspaces and standards for different clients?
    • Are files/projects shared across multiple branches?
    • Do you have to support different disciplines with different requirements such as Survey, Roadway Design, Structures, etc.?

    I've been in this business for over 30 years, on both the IT side and the CAD side. The one constant I've seen in my experience is that IT managers tend do know very little about CAD and that you can't treat MicroStation, PowerCivil, and related applications the same way you do Microsoft Office and other common desktop applications.

    Rod Wing
    Senior Systems Analyst

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