Location of "local" copy

[ron.sanpedro]

I plan to put the Central file on the file server, in the project folder. This is good because it gets backed up to tape, and Volume Shadow Copy gives me two iteration backups a day. However, where should the "Local" copies go?
I could put them in C:\Revit on each user's machine, and get the speed of a local non-raid drive, but I also loose the backup and revisions.
Or I could put the local copy in My Documents/Revit, and since My Documents is Redirected to the server, I get the backup functionality, but not the speed increase.
And lastly, I could put it in My Documents and Offline that, so that I am working on a truely local copy, which is then automatically synced to the server on a schedule, and that location is subject to backup and volume shadow copy.

So, I am curious what others are doing? Is the speed of a local copy enough to warrent either loosing the backup or going to offline files?

Thanks,
Gordon

[Steve_Stafford]

The intended location of the local copy is on the local PC. The assumption is faster read/write access to the hard drive versus server read/write. Since local files are essentially a working copy that can be discarded, having backups of these local copies doesn't have to be a priority.

Some network environments actually have far superior hardware on the server end than the local PC and you may find that local files stored centrally will perform just as well as those stored locally. Naturally this depends heavily on the network infrastructure. Keep in mind that local copies stored on the server will create a bit of a problem when users create new local copies since they might be trying to do it at the same time. This might be simpler if they each have their own folders on the Server?

As for location on the local PC I recommend that the local file should be in a folder that any user can see when logged into the PC. My Computer is not a good location because user access to this folder is limited to the person to whom the folder is associated with. On occasion it will be necessary to return worksets that someone has failed to return and is not in the building to do so themselves. Being able to log into their computer, use their username in Revit, open their local file and Save To Central ensures that any changes are saved as well as returning worksets that needed to be returned.

Last, Revit support seems to routinely recommend that a user does not need to create a new local file each day, rather continuing to work on the same local file using Reload Latest each morning. This seems fine for small teams but the larger the team gets and the more varied their participation I prefer them to make new local files each day. Purely a subjective preference and only anecdotal evidence suggests that this is best. Seems to me it comes down to the competency of each team and how consistent they are using the same workflow as each other.

[ron.sanpedro]

Steve,
thanks for the info. It sounds like local is the way to go, at least until we get the gigabit ethernet in, and even then our RAID-5 subsystem is solid, but not super fast. I suspect we will need a standard procedure of saving to Central before lunch and at the end of the day, so the Volume Shadow Copy will catch the changes. The main issue with a true local is that there can not be jumping from machine to machine like people have grown accustomed to. Of course we didn't start using Roaming Profiles so people could roam, we did it so profiles got backed up and replacing machines was easier. But people started roaming anyway ;)

I do wonder why Revit doesn't just copy the central to the local TEMP folder and work with it, then copy back to Central when you close Revit? Making the user manage files is a bad move in my book. The Application and OS are supposed to handle those chores. Wishlist item, I think, as there are a number of things in the Worksharing process that are a bit clumsy right now.

Best,
Gordon

[Steve_Stafford]

I'm withya...anything they can do to make the effort as transparent and simple as possible the better.

[Scott D Davis]

totally agree, that the "local copy" should be completely transparent to the user. Saving to C:\Temp has always been a thought I had of how Revit should handle it.

Then a Save to Central will automatically save the local afterwards back to the temp directory.

[irwin]

I do wonder why Revit doesn't just copy the central to the local TEMP folder and work with it, then copy back to Central when you close Revit? Making the user manage files is a bad move in my book. The Application and OS are supposed to handle those chores. Wishlist item, I think, as there are a number of things in the Worksharing process that are a bit clumsy right now.
The purpose of having separate local and central files is not to handle the network traffic, but rather to give the user control of when his changes are synchronized with those of other users. If the only time the local file was synchronized was when you closed the file, you wouldn't be able to get other people's changes during your session, or give them your changes. If it automatically synchronized when you closed the file you wouldn't have a way to keep your changes separate until you were ready to publish them, or avoid having other people's changes come into your session until you were ready.