Installation & Licensing

[#1]

Greetings,
Our company runs AutoCAD R14.01 using ADLM.
Our deployment installs acad on each NT 4.0 workstation with our servers
being for file and print sharing.
We are currently storing all drawings on an NT 4.0 Server but our company
also has an IBM server and a couple of Linux servers.

Our network system administrator has proposed a change in the location of our
drawing files. He would like to replace the NT Server with a Linux file
server. (he's a card carrying MicroSoft-Basher)

I would like to know if any AutoCAD/network issues need to be addressed.

Will this have any effect on ADLM?
Will this change anything with regard to file security/locking?
What other considerations are there?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Mark

[#2]

ADLM is an MS.exe that needs MS architecture (alt is to use a novell NLM)
even using a WINDOWS emulator how will the MS adlm be able to talk to a HAL
so the adlm is currently NOT supported on penguins (I agree it would be nice
if your Manager can prove me wrong.) If you do get it to work and want to
anounce it to the world please provide me with a free of charge phone number
for the thousands of support calls you will generate. SO use an NT
workstation for the ADLM management.
The same goes for file storage the file locking mechanisms MUST be 101%
Micros**t compatable. Please dont cry to the newsgroups that "(s)he who
saves last laughs longest."
Expect the odd program crash just before an autosave of that rush job that
has just taken all day.

Seriously I love your pioneering spirit and honestly wish you luck in your
endeavours, please keep us all posted so we dont make the same mistakes.

Mark J wrote in message
news:8E905B778mjohnstonwestmarkpro@192.168.1.121...
> Greetings,
> Our company runs AutoCAD R14.01 using ADLM.
> Our deployment installs acad on each NT 4.0 workstation with our servers
> being for file and print sharing.
> We are currently storing all drawings on an NT 4.0 Server but our company
> also has an IBM server and a couple of Linux servers.
>
> Our network system administrator has proposed a change in the location of
our
> drawing files. He would like to replace the NT Server with a Linux file
> server. (he's a card carrying MicroSoft-Basher)
>
> I would like to know if any AutoCAD/network issues need to be addressed.
>
> Will this have any effect on ADLM?
> Will this change anything with regard to file security/locking?
> What other considerations are there?
>
> Any comments would be appreciated.
>
> Mark

[#3]

Mark,

Using a Non Windows server for your drawing data will not have an impact on your
license manager. The license manager MUST run on a "Wintel" or Netware server,
no options there and AutoCAD requires "Wintel" workstations.

As far as using a Unix server for AutoCAD data storage and access you can run
into problems if the connectivity software you use deviates from Microsoft
Network standards and performance. The most common problem is false read-only
conditions, forcing you to save your work using SAVEAS to an alternate file
name. This is generally caused by the connectivity software dropping AutoCAD's
request to release the lock. Another less common problem is where the
connectivity drops AutoCAD's lock request, resulting in files that never get
locked, this is very bad because people can overwrite each others work. Other,
less common problems have also been known to happen. There is a Release 14.01
patch posted on the Autodesk FTP site that makes AutoCAD more forgiving about
read only problems with Unix Servers. See
ftp://ftp-2.autodesk.com/pub/autocad14/patches/p033.txt.

Jerry Milana,
Autodesk Product Support

Mark J wrote:

> Greetings,
> Our company runs AutoCAD R14.01 using ADLM.
> Our deployment installs acad on each NT 4.0 workstation with our servers
> being for file and print sharing.
> We are currently storing all drawings on an NT 4.0 Server but our company
> also has an IBM server and a couple of Linux servers.
>
> Our network system administrator has proposed a change in the location of our
> drawing files. He would like to replace the NT Server with a Linux file
> server. (he's a card carrying MicroSoft-Basher)
>
> I would like to know if any AutoCAD/network issues need to be addressed.
>
> Will this have any effect on ADLM?
> Will this change anything with regard to file security/locking?
> What other considerations are there?
>
> Any comments would be appreciated.
>
> Mark

[#4]

Thanks for your response Jerry.

Would the fact that we are using SAMBA make any difference in how AutoCAD
sees our drawing files?

Is R2000 any better, worse or different than R14.01 with regard to this
issue?

Mark

Jerry Milana wrote in message <3846F485.D5268917@autodesk.com>...
>Mark,
>
>Using a Non Windows server for your drawing data will not have an impact on
your
>license manager. The license manager MUST run on a "Wintel" or Netware
server,
>no options there and AutoCAD requires "Wintel" workstations.
>
>As far as using a Unix server for AutoCAD data storage and access you can
run
>into problems if the connectivity software you use deviates from Microsoft
>Network standards and performance. The most common problem is false
read-only
>conditions, forcing you to save your work using SAVEAS to an alternate file
>name. This is generally caused by the connectivity software dropping
AutoCAD's
>request to release the lock. Another less common problem is where the
>connectivity drops AutoCAD's lock request, resulting in files that never
get
>locked, this is very bad because people can overwrite each others work.
Other,
>less common problems have also been known to happen. There is a Release
14.01
>patch posted on the Autodesk FTP site that makes AutoCAD more forgiving
about
>read only problems with Unix Servers. See
>ftp://ftp-2.autodesk.com/pub/autocad14/patches/p033.txt.
>
>Jerry Milana,
>Autodesk Product Support
>

[#5]

>> Another less common problem is where the
>> connectivity drops AutoCAD's lock request, resulting in files that never get
>> locked, this is very bad because people can overwrite each others work.

We are just now upgrading to A2K and about three weeks into it. We have experienced
this problem in the last couple of weeks. I applied the P033 patch
for AutoCad R14 and had no problems with file locking. I can not say the same for
A2K. We have been using Sun servers since about 1990 and have no
plans to change to NT. I know there are not many of us out there using unix/linux
servers (plus this being a late post) but is anyone else experiencing
problems with file locking in A2K?

Server:
Sun E250
Solaris 2.6 w/current patches
current rpc.pcnfsd

Client:
PII's & PIII's
SNC 3.2 only one patch 107806-01
Windows NT 4.0 (SP5)

Thanks,
Steve

--
Steven W Cox, RA
Hollis & Miller
8205 Wst 108th Terr Ste 100
Overland Park KS 66210
(v)913-451-8886
(f)913-451-0220
scox@hollis-miller.com

http://www.hollis-miller.com

Jerry Milana wrote:

> Mark,
>
> Using a Non Windows server for your drawing data will not have an impact on your
> license manager. The license manager MUST run on a "Wintel" or Netware server,
> no options there and AutoCAD requires "Wintel" workstations.
>
> As far as using a Unix server for AutoCAD data storage and access you can run
> into problems if the connectivity software you use deviates from Microsoft
> Network standards and performance. The most common problem is false read-only
> conditions, forcing you to save your work using SAVEAS to an alternate file
> name. This is generally caused by the connectivity software dropping AutoCAD's
> request to release the lock. Another less common problem is where the
> connectivity drops AutoCAD's lock request, resulting in files that never get
> locked, this is very bad because people can overwrite each others work. Other,
> less common problems have also been known to happen. There is a Release 14.01
> patch posted on the Autodesk FTP site that makes AutoCAD more forgiving about
> read only problems with Unix Servers. See
> ftp://ftp-2.autodesk.com/pub/autocad14/patches/p033.txt.
>
> Jerry Milana,
> Autodesk Product Support
>
> Mark J wrote:
>
> > Greetings,
> > Our company runs AutoCAD R14.01 using ADLM.
> > Our deployment installs acad on each NT 4.0 workstation with our servers
> > being for file and print sharing.
> > We are currently storing all drawings on an NT 4.0 Server but our company
> > also has an IBM server and a couple of Linux servers.
> >
> > Our network system administrator has proposed a change in the location of our
> > drawing files. He would like to replace the NT Server with a Linux file
> > server. (he's a card carrying MicroSoft-Basher)
> >
> > I would like to know if any AutoCAD/network issues need to be addressed.
> >
> > Will this have any effect on ADLM?
> > Will this change anything with regard to file security/locking?
> > What other considerations are there?
> >
> > Any comments would be appreciated.
> >
> > Mark

[#6]

Steve,

See if there are any updates for the NFS connectivity software you are
using. Several NFS solution vendors have released fixes or specific
configuration steps that make this problem go away.

jerry milana
Autodesk Product Support

"Steve" wrote in message
news:39072CD1.1FD63F92@hollis-miller.com...
> >> Another less common problem is where the
> >> connectivity drops AutoCAD's lock request, resulting in files that
never get
> >> locked, this is very bad because people can overwrite each others work.
>
> We are just now upgrading to A2K and about three weeks into it. We have
experienced
> this problem in the last couple of weeks. I applied the P033 patch
> for AutoCad R14 and had no problems with file locking. I can not say the
same for
> A2K. We have been using Sun servers since about 1990 and have no
> plans to change to NT. I know there are not many of us out there using
unix/linux
> servers (plus this being a late post) but is anyone else experiencing
> problems with file locking in A2K?
>
> Server:
> Sun E250
> Solaris 2.6 w/current patches
> current rpc.pcnfsd
>
> Client:
> PII's & PIII's
> SNC 3.2 only one patch 107806-01
> Windows NT 4.0 (SP5)
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
> --
> Steven W Cox, RA
> Hollis & Miller
> 8205 Wst 108th Terr Ste 100
> Overland Park KS 66210
> (v)913-451-8886
> (f)913-451-0220
> scox@hollis-miller.com
>
> http://www.hollis-miller.com
>
> Jerry Milana wrote:
>
> > Mark,
> >
> > Using a Non Windows server for your drawing data will not have an impact
on your
> > license manager. The license manager MUST run on a "Wintel" or Netware
server,
> > no options there and AutoCAD requires "Wintel" workstations.
> >
> > As far as using a Unix server for AutoCAD data storage and access you
can run
> > into problems if the connectivity software you use deviates from
Microsoft
> > Network standards and performance. The most common problem is false
read-only
> > conditions, forcing you to save your work using SAVEAS to an alternate
file
> > name. This is generally caused by the connectivity software dropping
AutoCAD's
> > request to release the lock. Another less common problem is where the
> > connectivity drops AutoCAD's lock request, resulting in files that never
get
> > locked, this is very bad because people can overwrite each others work.
Other,
> > less common problems have also been known to happen. There is a Release
14.01
> > patch posted on the Autodesk FTP site that makes AutoCAD more forgiving
about
> > read only problems with Unix Servers. See
> > ftp://ftp-2.autodesk.com/pub/autocad14/patches/p033.txt.
> >
> > Jerry Milana,
> > Autodesk Product Support
> >
> > Mark J wrote:
> >
> > > Greetings,
> > > Our company runs AutoCAD R14.01 using ADLM.
> > > Our deployment installs acad on each NT 4.0 workstation with our
servers
> > > being for file and print sharing.
> > > We are currently storing all drawings on an NT 4.0 Server but our
company
> > > also has an IBM server and a couple of Linux servers.
> > >
> > > Our network system administrator has proposed a change in the location
of our
> > > drawing files. He would like to replace the NT Server with a Linux
file
> > > server. (he's a card carrying MicroSoft-Basher)
> > >
> > > I would like to know if any AutoCAD/network issues need to be
addressed.
> > >
> > > Will this have any effect on ADLM?
> > > Will this change anything with regard to file security/locking?
> > > What other considerations are there?
> > >
> > > Any comments would be appreciated.
> > >
> > > Mark
>

[#7]

Jerry,

As of the moment I am unable to find anything from Sun concerning this matter.
I've checked both on the client side (Solstice Network Client 3.2) and the
server side (Solaris 2.6). I've ran across several file locking issues
concerning Microsoft products, Excel, Access and Word but nothing in general
terms of file locking.

Thanks,
Steve

jerry milana wrote:

> Steve,
> See if there are any updates for the NFS connectivity software you are
> using. Several NFS solution vendors have released fixes or specific
> configuration steps that make this problem go away.
>
> jerry milana
> Autodesk Product Support
>
>

[#8]

Steve,

You may want to report the problem to Sun Support and/or evaluate other NFS
solutions. I have heard success stories from customers using NetManage (ftp
software) (http://www.netmanage.com/index.asp) and Hummingbird
(www.hcl.com). HINT: Hummingbird only work correctly if their proprietary
authentication daemon, hclnfsd is run along with pcnfsd on your Unix server.
See
http://www3.autodesk.com/adsk/support/techdoc/0,,86852--125452-0_21843,00.ht
ml

jerry

"Steve" wrote in message
news:39098D9A.7746A79F@hollis-miller.com...
>
> Jerry,
>
> As of the moment I am unable to find anything from Sun concerning this
matter.
> I've checked both on the client side (Solstice Network Client 3.2) and the
> server side (Solaris 2.6). I've ran across several file locking issues
> concerning Microsoft products, Excel, Access and Word but nothing in
general
> terms of file locking.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
> jerry milana wrote:
>
> > Steve,
> > See if there are any updates for the NFS connectivity software you are
> > using. Several NFS solution vendors have released fixes or specific
> > configuration steps that make this problem go away.
> >
> > jerry milana
> > Autodesk Product Support
> >
> >
>

[#9]

I know Solaris 8 (2.8) is new compared to the proved and rock stable
Solaris 2.6. Solaris 8 comes with a Easy Access Server that supports SMB
clients. It's based on the original MS NT Source code. Sun licensed the
code from AT&T. This may not solve you NFS problem, but it may provide a
way out if you ever decide to ditch NFS.

I am trying to move from a Mac G3 Server to either a NT or Unix file
server myself.

Steve wrote:
>
> Jerry,
>
> As of the moment I am unable to find anything from Sun concerning this matter.
> I've checked both on the client side (Solstice Network Client 3.2) and the
> server side (Solaris 2.6). I've ran across several file locking issues
> concerning Microsoft products, Excel, Access and Word but nothing in general
> terms of file locking.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
> jerry milana wrote:
>
> > Steve,
> > See if there are any updates for the NFS connectivity software you are
> > using. Several NFS solution vendors have released fixes or specific
> > configuration steps that make this problem go away.
> >
> > jerry milana
> > Autodesk Product Support
> >
> >

--
Paul Griffith - pgriffith@ajddsco.com
System Administrator
A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt & Company
Architects and Planners
2 Berkeley Street, Suite 600
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tel: 416.862.8800 Fax: 416.862.5508