Anyone using AutoCad 3D in a remote desktop environment?

[Anonymous]

Hello: I'm working with a civil engineering firm that wants to move away from powerful individual workstations and use a remote desktop virtualization solution to run AutoCad 3D on remote servers, so engineers can work from home, etc.

Is anybody aware of or using a similar system?

I'm very curious to learn if people are happy with this type of solution?

Are there problems with latency, graphic quality, etc?

Does it support split screen / multiple monitors?

Any available info on the type of hardware / virtualization software deployed?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken

[neilyj666]

I've used a remote desktop connection via VPN to my office PC when working from home.

I have a dual 22" monitor set up in the office and a 17" laptop so this wasn't ideal. I also have a relatively slow broadband connection so there was some occasional lag etc

If you have a fast connection it may be an ok solution but I'd miss the dual monitors if I had to do this for any length of time

[DarrenP]

something else you can look into also is the citrix enviroment : http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=13959101

[thepworth]

I've used "logmein" for access from home - I've got a decent internet connection and my home monitor has a better resolution than work (now).  Now that I can see my office machine at "full resolution,' it's not quite as bad, but I found cursor lag nearly unbearable.  I prefer to log in from home, etransmit & ftp to home.  then I'll use a "home use" license to operate on my local machine.  So, I'd say I'm not convinced (yet). 

Hope this Helps.

TdH

[thepworth]

BTW, for those who aren't familiar, "home use" allows a 1 for 1 installation on a company's employees' personal computers for each seat when on subscription.  I'm not sure how well known this is among other users.

TdH

[DarrenP]

some companies don't allow employees to use the software at home thats why people probably don't know about this or use it

[thepworth]

True, but the OP did mention work from home.

[DarrenP]

thats true

[thepworth]

also, back to the OP, i'm not sure about dual monitor support.  At home I have a laptop and external monitor, but logmein only permits a single monitor in the active window (web browser) and has a toggle to view alternate monitors.  The resolution isn't high enough to view both machines if I have one window "span" both of my remote connected monitors.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the comments. The actual usage will be a combination of from home plus production environment. The challenge is that numerous users will login simultaneously to a group of 3 servers running AutoCad 3D, so it will be quite a bit more intensive than logging into a single workstation from home - although I do find that anecdotal information still useful in the process, and appreciate people sharing their personal experiences. 

Tomorrow I'm going to research the Citrix solution a bit. Thanks DarrenP for the link. AutoCad Civ 3d isn't expressly on the list of certified applications, so it will be interesting to see if that's an option.

Plenty more research to do.

I appreciate all comments.

-Ken

[TravisNave]

Keep in mind, Ken, that accessing servers to host AutoCAD violates the license agreement.  Some of the products are certified for Citrix as Darren recommends.  However, accessing the software remotely hosted on a server is a violation of the EULA. 

You could install a home use license per Subscription or allow a home installation access a network license manager via VPN and maintain compliance. 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Travis, we're definitely exploring the licensing to find out exactly what is possible from that aspect.

[jmayo-EE]

This doesn't help the 1st part of your question but home users can avoid working with lag by connecting to the company network via vpn, borrowing a license and disconnecting the vpn after project files are copied locally. A local hard drive can be set up with the same drive letter and paths as the company server so shared rescourse can be found and users can work locally. I also think you can limit the time period for the borrowed license to make sure they are all accounted for each day.

[JeffPaulsen]

We have several employees, including myself, that use AutoCAD C3D through a VPN connection and remote desktop. In our case we are not logging into servers. Instead we login to a workstation setup in the office. As far as I know only one person can be logged into a computer at at time using RD.

With this setup C3D file access is almost as fast as being in the office. For example: opening the software, opening and saving drawings, updating xrefs and synchronizing drefs all perform similar to being in the office.

The problem with this setup is lag due to sending the graphics across the internet. There is considerable cursor lag in the drawing window which can make it hard to pick an object. Once you leave the drawing window and move your cursor over the menu area or toolspace the lag is gone. Zooming and panning is also cumbersome. I do not recommend zooming using the mouse wheel. I made a small toolbar with toggles to control other graphics intensive features you would not want on if not totally necessary e.g. selection preview, highlight (I always leave this on), tool tips, dynamic input.

As John_M mentioned you can install C3D at your location, borrow a license and copy the data files to your local hard drive. This will allow you to work at the same speed as being in the office. We recently typed up some procedures for doing just this because some of the people that are using RD were complaining about the graphics lag. The major drawback here is file management (backups, multiple copies of the same file, time to copy the files across the internet, file sharing). IMO this only works if the project is being worked on by one person. And that situation is very rare for us.

[tcorey]

If you have a network version of AutoCAD, you can effectively run it while obtaining the license (not the software--The software will need to be installed on the workstation. ) over a VPN. The packet AutoCAD uses for license serving is tiny, so even a modem will work fine.

The data are going to be the bigger issue. If your data are server-based, as a previous post pointed-out, loading xref's, etc. can prove to be more time-consuming that just driving to the office to get your work done.

In my region, the local cable company has lightning-fast speeds, but even that shows some crosshair lag when I remote into my office, so if you don't have optimal internet access speeds, remote access solutions will be clunky.

[Anonymous]

This appears to be a pretty old threas (2012).  I'm sure Virtual Desktop environments are becoming more common yet there seems to be no solution for Civil 3D due to the way it's mouse movements are processed.

Has anyone had any luck or seen any progress?  Civil 3D is one of the few products that is holding us back from making the leap to the virtual environment company wide.  Our Revit users report execellent results.

[dgorsman]

Remote working sounds great in theory but in practice has a host of problems.  Getting employees to accurately track work hours, access to supporting material, confidential information, preventing moonlighting with company assets, security implications, lack of collaboration with other employees, support for technical problems... the list of "cons" significantly outweighs the "pros".

[tcorey]

Regarding Virtual Desktop solutions, Autodesk offers a Citrix version of AutoCAD Civil 3D. No other Virtual Desktop schemes are supported.

[DarrenP]

they also have Autodesk Remote

[igi_pop]

A bit of an older thread but the subject is becoming real for me..

Situation is like this - i work at a low end computer, but am a CAD specialist with Civil 3d proficiency. My PC change is lond overdue for vanilla cad, let alone Civil. Now, someone has sprouted an ide that they should remote connect me to a colleagues PC so that i can work on Civil.

What i would like to know from you experts - since he IS working on that PC at all times just like me, AND uses civil, what are the odds that stuff will work satisfactory for both, or any one of us two?

I find it a dubious setup since a decent PC doesn't cost that much, and we don't have workstations in the commercial and real sense of the word.

His specs are:

Win 7 pro x64

i5-3470 3,2GHz

4Gig of ram

classic hard drive (as in NOT SSD)

In my honest and humble oppinion, the configuration is barely enough to run as a CAD machine on it's own, let alone recieve connections...

What say ye?

thank you 🙂