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cek
2009-01-22, 03:20 PM
I was wondering if locating your central file on an FTP site for the consultants to access is a recommended practice for collaborating with your engineers?

I assume their preferred method of interface would be to link to this central file. It appears this method would give them real time updates.

I do have concerns with the possibilities of access to the central file outside of the office environment that could be possible through a consultants employee. Is there a way to give them read only access?
twiceroadsfool
2009-01-22, 03:27 PM
We send them updates, every other day, or daily, or as frequently as is necessary, and then let them reload the link on their own network. We do the same with their files...
dhurtubise
2009-01-22, 04:13 PM
I do have concerns with the possibilities of access to the central file outside of the office environment that could be possible through a consultants employee. Is there a way to give them read only access?

Unfortunately you don't. Once you sent them the file they can do whatever they want with it. It's also possible to work in real-time with technology like Riverbed.
cek
2009-01-22, 05:44 PM
Another advantage of posting the file is that you would have the opportunity to cull out sensitive elements and families that the consultants would have no use for like formula driven schedules you may not want to find their way into the public domain.
nole
2009-01-23, 09:17 AM
Hi there!
You can try software called Hamachi, which installs virtual network driver and allows to establish "local" network between computers over Internet.
Scott Womack
2009-01-23, 11:11 AM
Unfortunately you don't. Once you sent them the file they can do whatever they want with it. It's also possible to work in real-time with technology like Riverbed.

The Steelhead/Riverbed system works great. A few months ago, I was working on a 145 meg file that resided on another firms server a couple of thousand miles away. It took may 30 to 45 seconds longer on a save to central, but that's not bad considering the distance. Both offices had the hardware version of the solution in place.