more Vault questions.

[sturner]

there is plenty of information on using vault. but i have not found much if any on USING Vault.
so i was wondering if anyone had some real world experance with civil3d and vault.

some questions:
what have you done with the file store, how have you handled non-Vault users, is it best to put the working directory on the file server or keep it local?
i know i want to put the working directory on the file server but i am unclear how best to handle the Vault file store. and intergrating it into our current file and directory structure.

[Harold Pei Jr]

Local working folders are great speed-wise, but horrible for when others need to work on the same file. If someone forgot to check the file back in, no one else would be able to use the file (think going in for the weekend to finish a project, only to find someone else has it checked out and you can't access the file you need to get the project finished). Keep it on a seperate server if possible, if not, try to create a virtual drive on the network just for the working folder.

Another thing that you could do is close off the file store to everyone except people with administrative clearance (IT and CAD manager are the only people who really need access to it). This'll help with any problems about people messing with the Vault file store (in that they won't be able to touch it). This way, you can have both a server-based working folder, and you have the security of having the file store being a limited access folder.

[sturner]

how many versions should one keep in the filestore? it can get big real quick!

[Harold Pei Jr]

I'm not really sure. We've been told that we could keep just 1 version, but then again, we have times when we make a huge change, then the client wants the old design again, so having more versions also comes in handy.
What I've found handy is using some kind of comment "filler" that the purge looks for and then leaves those versions alone. Something I've noticed people overlooking is Vault maintenance.
You can run a purge and backup daily if you want to, just remember to keep so many copies, in case you have to grab old designs again, and have your users getting into the habit of putting comments on big changes, both before and after, as well as with percentage submittals.
Just figure out a string to use in the comments for the purge function to look for.

[sturner]

i'd forgotten about the filters and comments, thanks Harold!