very small network for SW files...

[NickE]

I'm putting together the information about designing a very small network to share data btw 4-5 computers. As three of the computers (may) will be running SW(12/13), I thought I would ask here about any easy and safe solutions. I'm guessing RAID storage with it's own case and controller, coupled to a decent desktop machine with plenty of RAM and good network card (possibly 2x ganged?). Is tape backup still the way to go? (I'd like to automate backups)

I'll definitely ask our reseller to recommend a solution, but also wanted to see what the community recommended.

We are a startup manufacturing firm, very small right now, but also want to build the infrastructure to get bigger. Network cabling is well distributed throughout our facility, the boxes on the ends of it are not.

Thanks
Nick

 

[MikeHalloran]

The SW machines and their file servers should all connect directly to the same router, using the fastest network hardware you can afford.

I personally hate tape, because the hardware is less reliable than a floppy drive, and when (not if) there's a media failure, you lose huge blocks of data, often an entire tape. Lots of people love tape, and make backups religiously, rotating the same 7 or 8 tapes for years. That's just insane, because the 'read after write' error checking never actually works. I have been able to recover a random single lost file from a tape backup exactly once in my lifetime; every other attempt of many has failed.

Better to just get a DVD duplicator/ autofeed burner and feed it a stack of media on backup day, then store the stack offsite and never touch it until you need it.

For day to day backup, sure, get a RAID controller and multiple drives in a box, or set up a ghost server, which has fewer shared points of failure.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[GRF]

If possible go with SW pro and implement PDMworks. This way users check files in and out of the vault and not just saving to a network drive. It makes keeping track of revisions easier for me. I do not have to worry about renaming a file with the latest revision and then having to redirect an assembly or multiple assemblies to use the new revision.

This will eliminate the major problem of solidworks trying to open files over a network location. All the work is done on the local machine and then once checked into the vault a copy of the file is transfered over the network. Library files for things that do not need revision control like screws, bolts and such is a different story though.

 

[SnowCrash]

We just back up to a hard drive and exchange it off site periodically.

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2011 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
W7 Pro, Nvidia Quaddro FX580