warning when upgrading servers

[Andre Baros]

We just switched our data drive out of our main server to a new Network Attached Storage appliance (NAS). No major problems, but you do have to go and re save all your central files because Revit using UNC naming ie \\server\data\project not the simple G:\\data\project system. So Revit can't switch from "mainserver" to "dataserver" even though they're both mapped as the G: drive locally. I'm sure there's a good reason for this, but everyone should be aware of it since once the data is moved you can't save back to the original central file.

If you're simply changing servers, it would be advisable to use the exact same name.

[Mr Spot]

I think its probably good practice to save new local files when you've replaced the server...

My 2 cents.

[Fred Blome]

How is the NAS working for users accessing the Central file? Have you seen any speed differences? I had asked Revit support about options for servers and the response was they officially only supported Windows operating system. What NAS did you go with?

[Andre Baros]

We went with a Dell PowerVault running Windows Server 2003 Appliance Edition. Basically its just windows optimized for file sharing. The powervault has 1 terabit, stripped to 80% with RAID5. I was a bit concerned about speed going from our old SCSI to the new SATA but so far no complaints (after just 1 day) It's hard to say about speed until I do some tests, but windows explorer and file open/close dialogs are notably faster... which is very real in terms of user experience. Dell's SCSI option was just too expensive to justify. Our current server, Small Business Server Edition, is still handling everything except project files and breathing easier for sure, it didn't have any more room for storage but was handling everything else really well. Now it has room to fill again.

We also upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet, so I don't think I'll every really know, what's the server and what's the network.