Best practices when working remotely while accessing a Revit server?

[joemcninch]

Recently we've started exploring options of giving staff members robust laptops and docking stations as opposed to running the typical desktop tower set up.  This will give our staff the flexibility to take work with them wherever they go including home.  I've been experimenting with the set up at home recently and have some questions...

A little background:  I have my personal PC at home and used to VPN to my desktop computer that in the office.  It worked OK,  I never wanted to do any real 'heavy lifting' from home, but it worked great in a pinch.  This option was very much a function of my internet connection.

So now... I have this fancy laptop that I can take home with me, and instead of VPN-ing to the office I simply map our network servers through a VPN client and can access and open my Revit central models through there.  I assumed that once I had grabbed a local copy of the central I would be off to the races...  Apparently that's not quite how it works.  Revit is still maintaining a "heartbeat" between the local copy and the central model, that again, is very much a function of the internet connection and was noticing some definite lag time between mundane tasks, not just syncing to central.  Once I restarted my internet hardware (modem and router) my internet speeds drastically increased to closer to what I pay for (different story altogether), the performance I was experiencing was noticeably increased as well.

The question I have, short of checking out worksets and all that so I am truly working locally, is there a way to circumvent some of these issues?  Or will my staff always be limited to whatever internet service they've paid for at their residence?  Would turning down the worksharing update frequency help reduce some of this lag time?  If I reduce that to every 60 seconds, or to manual, what are the ramifications to that; I haven't found much information regarding that topic.

What are some best practices when working remotely on a workshared Revit file?

[loboarch · Accepted solution]

Revit worksharing is really optimized for LAN. And by LAN I mean truly "LOCAL". As you have experienced, working through a VPN is less than optimal at a minimum, and at the worst could lead to file corruption issues.

This is part of the reason Revit server was developed, to give two offices that are remotely located an opportunity to work together on a workshared file.

This is also the reason Collaboration for Revit was developed. That being a web solution, you don't really need to worry about location at all (with some caveats).

I am not a computer networking guy so I really don't know the technical details, but from the standpoint of trying to address some of the issues you are describing using a VPN, these are some of the reasons we developed alternate solutions to "remote" access to a Revit file.

Maybe others who are more network savvy or have direct experience attempting to setup remote work situations can offer more specific advice. 

[SteveKStafford]

Low tech best solution for home access is a virtual desktop like VMware or Remote Desktop. A bit higher tech/cost, there are also some companies (Advance 2000 or HVE) that provide cloud accessible virtual pc's that you can use to access your data.

In general, take the user to the data not the data to the user.

[Alfredo_Medina]

Best solution, in my opinion, is Collaboration for Revit + BIM 360 Team.

I have used the virtual computer solution (such as Advance 2K), but I have had some issues with it that affect performance. Last time I used it the wheel of the mouse could not do zoom in and out. Or, I could not use the Control key to add elements to a selection. Or other annoying things with the display. This sounds like settings in the devices that seem easy to fix, but I could not fix them.  It feels like wearing someone else's shoes.  🙂

[Anonymous]

Bulk laptops now seems to be outdated in this tech-savvy world. Why don`t you try out virtual desktop which are highly reliable and secured too allowing remote access to your preferred applications and data. You can work remotely on your projects by accessing your cloud hosted online private workspace There are various providers of virtual desktop but i would suggest you to purchase a microsoft virtual desktop from Apps4Rent.com since they offer me the best technical support that too 24*7*365 days. I have been using their products from the past 5 years with a quality service offered to me.

Adrian Gates

CAD Expert