BIM Cloud Riverbed Solution

Here's a bit of technology for you to look into, especially if you're really collaborating with others in the BIM world.  

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Collaboration Systems Group Newsletter    March, 2012                                                                                                  In This Issue CSG BIMcloud and BIMcenter Speed tests ! New Steelheads ! Upcoming webinars Quick Links See all the announcement on the RIVERBED BLOG Link to CSG discussion area NEW !  Pre-recorded presentation CSG BIMcloud and BIMcenter NEW ! CSG BIMcloud PDF file New ! CSG BIMcenter PDF file  Greetings! It looks like word about CSG's success with Revit Model Sharing is starting to get some attention.  We've seen several "new" services by companies offering ways of sharing Revit models with your remote project teams, and consultants.  These are being marketed as a "product", but the underlying technology is same old thing.......some form of remote login to a workstation on the LAN side, or some other way of negating your need to open the Revit model across a WAN/VPN/Web connection. This month, we're launching a new product of our own.....CSG BIMcenter.  BIMcenter is everything we use with our hosted BIMcloud solution set.  BIMcenter simply gives you what you need to do the hosting yourself. CSG is still the only solution set that addresses latency, giving your WAN/VPN connection "production capable" speeds working over existing internet connections.  We've posted a new pre-recorded presentation, as well. The days are longer, February is gone, the temperatures are rising, and the baseballs are flying.................ah, the optimism of Spring ! CSG BIMcloud and CSG BIMcenter   Q:  What is CSG BIMcloud?   A:  CSG BIMcloud is the new name of our proven "Revit Model Hosting Service".  CSG BIMcloud is a public cloud solution for allowing you to host your Revit model on our server.  We provide the acceleration through Riverbed's Steelhead device and Steelhead Mobile, making your WAN/VPN connection feel like a LAN.    Q.  CSG uses Riverbed for acceleration.  Do I need to be a Riverbed customer to use the CSG BIMcloud?   A:  No.  If you are, CSG can utilize what you have when working with our BIMcloud.  If you are not, CSG can provide you and your project team with Steelhead mobile licenses, as part of our BIMcloud service.   Q:  What is CSG BIMcenter?   A:  BIMcenter is everything you need to duplicate the CSG BIMcloud service and host the model yourself, for your remote project team and your consultants.  It even includes 10 concurrent mobile client licenses for acceleration of your remote team and consultants to use.  Since you will own this, you can use for future Revit projects, as well.   Q:  How is CSG BIMcloud and BIMcenter different from other "Revit model sharing" solutions that are available?   A:  BIMcloud and BIMcenter don't use remote desktop or any other product that requires you to log in to a "local" machine to work on the model.  With BIMcloud and BIMcenter, you are using YOUR workstation and YOUR Revit software to work on your model(s), directly.  In thinking about this solution set, and what is required, the most logical approach would be to take your existing, LAN-based workflow that you use today, and simply make it work the same for the remote project team.  CSG's BIMcloud and BIMcenter do exactly that, without file conversion, copying, or re-training of your Revit users.  In addition, with BIMcloud and BIMcenter, you don't have to worry about losing any customization you have created, such as custom content and parts.   Q:  Can I try it out?   A:  YES !.  CSG offers a proof of concept for both the BIMcloud and the BIMcenter.  See it work on your own projects before you make a decision to move forward.             Testing with Riverbed   This month, we thought we'd take a step back and provide you with some test results.  We have tested AutoCAD, Revit Architecture, Word, and PDF.  Below are the timed test results with no optimization at all, with a "first open" (what we call a cold open with Riverbed), and a second open (what we call a warm open with Riverbed), and from a local server. A Steelhead 1050-H is at the data center side, supporting a full 20Mbps bandwidth.  On the client side, we used Steelhead mobile.  The remote office has a business-class cable connection with speeds of 57Mbps down, and 4.8Mbps up (ridiculous speeds!).  Even with all this bandwidth available, you'll still see a significant improvement, and "near LAN" speeds when going over the VPN connection (approximately 90 miles away) AutoCAD 2012:  9.7MB file Open with no Riverbed optimization:  54 seconds First open (cold) with Riverbed:  9 seconds Second open (warm) with Riverbed:  5 seconds Open from local server:  4 seconds Microsoft Word 2010:  34.3MB file Open with no Riverbed optimization:  57 seconds First open (cold) with Riverbed:  27 seconds Second open (warm) with Riverbed:  5 seconds Open from local server:  4 seconds Acrobat PDF Viewer:  25.6MB file Open with no Riverbed optimization:  22 seconds First open (cold) with Riverbed:  13 seconds Second open (warm) with Riverbed:  2 seconds Open from local server:  2 seconds Revit Architecture 2012:  74.4MB file Open with no Riverbed optimization:  1 minute, 33 seconds Sync to Central File:  2 minutes, 14 seconds First open (cold) with Riverbed:    1 minutes, 6 seconds Second open (warm) with Riverbed:  34 seconds Sync to Central File:  21 seconds New Steelhead Models (held over from last month)   Announcing Steelhead CX and Steelhead EX As part of the new platform of Steelheads, there will be two choices of platforms; and several choices within each platform.  The new Steelhead platforms include the CX and the EX platforms.  The CX platform is for WAN acceleration, as you know it today.  The EX platform will give you the option of adding the new VSP license, and the Granite license to the box.  There is no upgrade path from the CX platform to the EX platform, so customers will need to make that decision upfront. Each platform will start at the 500 series; 555 for the CX platform, and 560 for the EX platform.  Each group will include more bandwidth support, more TCP connections, more ports, and in many cases, a lower price point. For example, a customer today considering a Steelhead 550-M, supporting 2Mbps bandwidth and 300 TCP connections, with a list price of $9495 may want to move instead to a new CX555-M, supporting 6Mbps bandwidth and 350 TCP connections (and more ports) at a list price of only $500 more, at $9995.  The Riverbed trade up program exists for the new devices, as well ! Get a quote Senior Product Manager Joe Ghory introduces the new Steelheads and VSP Upcoming webinars     CSG BIMcloud and BIMcenter   The CSG BIMcloud and BIMcenter webinar will introduce you to the most logical way of sharing Revit models, and other project data, with your remote users and consultants.  No re-training of your Revit users, no remote desktop, no copying, and no conversion of your files needed.  This presentation includes a LIVE demonstration.  Duration:  25 minutes.   March 8, Noon EST March 20, 2pm EDT   REGISTER         Introduction of Riverbed Whitewater   Interested in backing up your data to "the cloud"? Eliminate tape and utilize Whitewater for public cloud storage of your data. This is a high-level introduction to the basics of how Whitewater works.  Duration:  20 minutes   March 8, 2pm EST March 20, 2pm EDT   REGISTER         Mark R. Schlicher, National Account Manager Collaboration Systems Group, LLC 734-316-2725 Mark.Schlicher@cs-grp.net