Wide Area CAD Engineering: Challenges and Solutions for Revit, Civil 3D, and BIM Applications

Overcoming “File Open” Latency, Disaster Recovery, and Centralization Challenge for Dispersed OfficesFor most AEC firms, data acquisition is increasing at an exponential pace. Files are growing in size and complexity, with end users spread across the globe. Transferring, opening, and maintaining these files is proving to be a business-critical requirement. Protecting and securing data from a crippling disaster event, especially data residing at remote sites, also is critically important.

The AEC Series of the Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers provides the flexibility for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms to support smaller or remote offices with varying growth requirements while extending all the benefits of a local LAN across a globally distributed enterprise. Built upon the industry’s first true enterprise-class, cloud-integrated global file system, Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers allow any user to access the latest version of any file, from any location, at any time, with little to no latency. And since the data resides in the cloud, recovery of files after a disaster event is quick and simple.

The following AEC case studies exemplify the power and security of a Panzura Global File System solution in different environments accomplishing three distinct objectives of leading AEC firms.

C&S Companies, Syracuse, NYFile Open Problem: C&S Companies already was working with a centralized storage model but was struggling with latency issues. C&S turned to Panzura to solve its remote Revit, Civil 3D, and CAD-type modeling performance issues by implementing a distributed Global File System with centralized, redundant, offsite cloud storage. This allows architects and designers to work as if they are local.

DS+R, New York, NYDisaster Recovery: To upgrade its storage infrastructure to meet 21st century demands, DS+R implemented the Panzura Cloud Storage Controller, along with Amazon Simple Storage Services (S3), as the basis for its cloud network attached storage (NAS). The company utilized the new storage design for a multitude of purposes, including NAS, CAD data protection, post mega-storm Sandy disaster recovery, and business continuity.

exp, Brampton, Ontario, CanadaCentralized Storage for Dispersed Offices: Trying to manage and protect multiple, disjointed islands of storage across sites can be a significant drain on both IT personnel and budgets. exp centralized its CAD data from all its remote offices while providing seamless LAN speed access to end users. Panzura’s globally distributed and synchronized file system integrates seamlessly with exp’s existing in-house infrastructure and addresses CAD file access (File Open problem), performance issues, and long-term cost viability.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Panzura White Paper: CAD Theory of Operation and Best Practices with Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers Panzura AEC 2800 Data Sheet

© 2016 Panzura. vCS-AEC-Bundle-112916a

AEC Case Study Bundle

C&S Companies

C&S Eliminates CAD Latency, Improves Performance with PanzuraGeographically distributed design and development teams are widespread in all Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firms to facilitate proper matching of the talent pool with growing project demands. However, challenges associated with providing seamless access to CAD project data across dispersed teams often create excessive amounts of infrastructure and management complexity with sub-optimal results or productivity loss. C&S turned to Panzura to solve its remote Revit, Civil 3D, and CAD modeling performance issues by implementing a distributed Global File System with centralized, redundant, offsite cloud storage, thereby allowing architects and designers to work as if they are local.

C&S Companies (C&S), founded in 1968, has more than 450 employees providing engineering, architecture, planning, environmental, and construction services to clients through a 13-office, distributed network stretching from California to New York. C&S provides services to local, state, and federal governments; industry and manufacturing; and private businesses.

Customer ChallengeBusiness Requirements and Storage Complexity: Decentralized to Centralized and BeyondStorage centralization, file sharing, and data protection were priorities for C&S. In 2005, C&S decided to move from a decentralized storage model across all its sites to a centralized model. Benefits were obvious, but performance suffered. In 2006, C&S was one of the first to purchase a Riverbed Steelhead WAN optimization device to speed up applications, but problems persisted. In addition, the company found data management and protection to be a challenge on its centralized EqualLogic SAN, which had grown to more than 11TB. Disk-to-disk backup, with a remote disaster recovery and business continuity solution, was high on the wish list but continually postponed due to cost and complexity.

Mounting CAD Challenges and Network Complexity: Bandwidth and LatencyKey to the success of C&S is the ability to quickly access complex project data files, regardless of the office in which they reside. Common applications in use were Revit, Civil 3D, and Bentley MicroStation. With a centralized model, most application data movement was between Syracuse and a remote site, but also included some peer-to-peer sharing across sites. C&S had a MPLS network between sites, with bandwidth varying between 6 Mbps and 10 Mbps. All Internet access was through Syracuse and there was a 30 Mbps limit on the bandwidth to the Internet, thereby making Syracuse a potential bottleneck. Latency ran 30-90 ms from Syracuse but as little as 10 ms between some sites.

Latency and lack of bandwidth were killing user productivity and without any acceleration technology, it would take more than 20 minutes to open a file. With Steelhead, application speeds improved noticeably and C&S was able to address network bandwidth issues. However, latency persisted and it still took a long time to open a file, which led to remote applications timing out — the problem wasn’t bandwidth, it was the “Remote File System”.

The CAD “File Open” Monster on the WAN*The pain of a centralized IT infrastructure is felt most acutely in complex, vertically integrated projects (as seen in Civil 3D) that include many, maybe thousands, of files requiring thousands more file system transactions, such as opens, lookups, locks, closes, and unlocks. This commonly is referred to as the “File Open” problem

Case Study

With Panzura, C&S saw the following immediate results:

• Latency eliminated – 150x performance improvement• Cold transfers – 20 min to 90 seconds• Warm transfers – 20 min to 8 seconds• Inherent data protection with cloud redundancy

in the AEC community* and C&S was no different. As the company discovered, more than 90% of the delay was associated with numerous round-trips being made to the data center for specific file operations. The farther the office, the more acute the problem. Users went through dramatic changes in their workflows in an attempt to circumvent the problem but the problem continued and, over time, the frustration became unbearable. Something had to change and a new approach was in order.

Chosen Solution — Global File System with Cloud StorageC&S turned to Panzura to solve its remote CAD performance and data management problems. C&S deployed a single Global File System with eight controllers in a NAS configuration at each one of its major sites, with all data securely stored and archived on Amazon’s S3 storage. Storage costs now are OPEX, based on usage. With free uploads to Amazon, and downloads minimized by Panzura caching and deduplication technology, network transfer costs are minimized to less than $100 per month. A lightweight synchronization protocol keeps everything consistent and in-sync across the entire system. Each site owns and operates a true global file system with LAN speeds for edge users. Presently, C&S has a SharePoint Index Server working in unison with Panzura at the company’s Syracuse headquarters. And as most company data is ingested at this site, C&S was able to build out the metadata search index for all data across eight sites. Latency has been reduced dramatically and the “file open problem” is a thing of the past.

Measurable ResultsWith Panzura deployed, latency has been just about eliminated. The first read of a remote file takes less than one minute, with subsequent reads requiring only a few seconds. File sharing across sites now happens in real time, boosting productivity and reducing time to job completion. The standard practice under the old infrastructure that saw locations working on day-old copies of data has changed to instantaneous updates.

Item CA to NY AZ to NY

File Size 1.5 MB 1.5 MB

Round Trip Latency 68 ms 66 ms

WAN Bandwidth 10 Mbps 9 Mbps

Time to Open Directly 22 min 16 min

Open Over Cold WAN Optimized Link 24 min 17 min

Open Over Hot WAN Optimized Link 20 min 15 min

Open with Panzura 8 sec 8 sec

End users noticed an immediate difference without having to alter their workflow. Application integration went smoothly and included all highly used items such as Revit, Civil 3D, and Bentley MicroStation, amongst others. Presently, C&S is on a path to completely eliminate tape backups from its global IT environment, relying entirely on cloud redundancy and Panzura recoverability. With Panzura’s frequent global snapshot and real-time replication capabilities, data always is securely stored and protected.

C&S now has the system it requires today, but also knows this system can scale easily as the company grows. For its end users, the solution design was exactly the right fit. For any CAD environment using a centralized storage model, Panzura provides a unique and valuable solution. No other solution comes close to providing the performance of reading and writing at LAN speeds.

* For more information, please read the Panzura White Paper: CAD Theory of Operation and Best Practices with Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers

“A key to our success is the ability to quickly access complex project data files, regardless of the office in which they reside. We have a 10-megabit MPLS network and had implemented WAN optimization, but only Panzura made it possible for our workers to access complex data files at LAN speeds from any of our offices.”

—Eric Quinn, IT Manager at C&S Companies

Panzura, Inc. | 695 Campbell Technology Pkwy #225, Campbell, CA, USA | 855-PANZURA | www.panzura.comCopyright © 2016 Panzura, Inc. All rights reserved. Panzura is a registered trademark or trademark of Panzura, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

© 2016 Panzura. vCS-C+S-112916a

Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R)

Panzura Global Cloud Solution Replaces Multiple Point Solutions for DS+R, Enables Rapid Data Recovery, Business Continuity after Hurricane SandyHurricane Sandy, the most destructive and deadliest hurricane of 2012, made landfall on Oct. 29, leaving New York City, the state, and much of the eastern seaboard powerless and inundated with water. Overall, the storm’s devastation was felt in 24 states, inflicting more than $65 billion in damages. Aside from the chaos inflicted on New York City’s infrastructure, the power outages and flooding took their toll on scores of companies and the electrical systems that powered mission-critical computers. Petabytes of data were at risk, putting the future of hundreds of companies in jeopardy.

One company feeling this strain was Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). Based in New York City, DS+R is an international, interdisciplinary design studio with a staff of 100 architects, artists, and administrators that integrate architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. And, as with many firms in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) space, DS+R relied heavily on its various architectural, engineering, and design documents for business success.

Customer Challenges: Nature and TechnologyThe company’s building was severely damaged from the storm. It lost all power, had no working heat or cooling systems, and had limited access as the subways and streets became flooded. With the building immersed in more than four feet of standing water, employees could not get up to 17th and 18th floors, where DS+R offices were located, nor could they access the company’s server room. But an earlier upgrade of its backup and recovery systems prevented the company from incurring a death-like blow from data loss.

Case Study

With Panzura, DS+R saw immediate results:

• Implemented data protection and disaster recovery strategy

• Executed flawlessly with proven business continuity results

• Enabled unlimited storage access to public cloud • Consolidated multiple technologies into Panzura’s

singular storage solution

Upgrading Systems for Data PreservationMonths before the storm hit, DS+R realized that large architectural design documents were eating up storage. Having access to this assembly of files, however, was absolutely vital. Data disaster recovery and business continuity plans were severely lacking. DS+R had employed a Dell PowerEdge R710 server as its primary file server, with a LaCie NAS system for archiving, and tape for backups. However, with minimal IT staff, and a limited budget, the company wanted to consolidate, and outsource, its ineffectual storage of files, archiving, and backup—and put it all in the cloud.

To upgrade its storage infrastructure to meet 21st century demands, DS+R implemented the Panzura Quicksilver Cloud Storage Controller, along with Amazon Simple Storage Services (S3), as the basis for its cloud network attached storage (NAS). The company utilized the new storage design for a multitude of purposes, including secondary NAS, data protection, disaster recovery, and business continuity. The Panzura solution effectively replaced a conglomeration of storage solutions, including a Windows server, backup software, tape libraries, off-site physical vaulting, and limited local storage capacity.

Now, with Panzura’s inherent data protection—frequent snapshots, continuous replication, and full encryption—DS+R was able to off-site data while having access to all document versions, all the time.

Systems Upgrade to Panzura Saves DataPanzura Technical Support is geared to provide proactive and highly efficient support services, ensuring continuous operations and access to business critical data. When DS+R’s data center lost power and had limited physical access because of the hurricane, Panzura enabled rapid recovery via the Amazon S3 cloud, providing emergency access to all of DS+R’s data.

The response time of Panzura Technical Support, and the extremely quick time to re-establish access to critical files, exemplifies Panzura technology. Within Panzura CloudFS resides an automatic restore mechanism, perpetually capturing snapshot images as data is created and updated. For DS+R, this inherent data protection was a large-scale improvement over its previous system. And, once business normalcy resumed, DS+R had full system access with absolutely no data loss.

DS+R currently manages 12TB of storage across 90+ users and expects that to grow to more than 20TB in the near future. Having learned valuable lessons on data recovery, and knowing the value of its design documentation, DS+R plans on archiving most of its files and models in the Amazon S3 cloud, leveraging the local cache on the Panzura Quicksilver Cloud Storage Controller. This will ensure rapid local access to vital data. This also will enable DS+R to easily scale and support future documentation, or even geographical, expansion.

When (non-storm) Clouds are GoodPanzura’s Global Cloud Storage System—Quicksilver Cloud Storage Controller, PZOS operating system, and Panzura CloudFS—enabled DS+R to address a broad array of business use cases by leveraging the flexibility, efficiency, and cost benefits of the cloud.

Companies of all sizes are choosing Panzura as their path to cloud integration for storage and data maintenance needs. A single Quicksilver controller offers active archiving, consolidation, and centralization of files, and enables easy file sharing, data protection, and disaster recovery in public or private clouds.

DS+R is a prime example of an industry leader in its sector embracing the potential of cloud storage and employing it for a multitude of purposes, including life-saving data recovery for business continuity.

For more information, please read the Panzura White Paper: CAD Theory of Operation and Best Practices with Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers

“Panzura’s Global Cloud Storage System allowed us to create a recovery platform and access our data stored in the cloud, which kept us productive until full power and access was restored. In the future, we expect the Panzura Cloud NAS functionality to fully replace a variety of our IT systems, including backup devices and file servers, enabling a seamless path to future organizational growth.”

—Chris Donnell, IT Manager, DS+R.

Panzura, Inc. | 695 Campbell Technology Pkwy #225, Campbell, CA, USA | 855-PANZURA | www.panzura.comCopyright © 2016 Panzura, Inc. All rights reserved. Panzura is a registered trademark or trademark of Panzura, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

© 2016 Panzura. vCS-DSR-112916a

exp

exp Centralizes, Consolidates Global CAD Data with Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers and EMC AtmosCentralizing data, improving performance and enabling seamless access to CAD projects, across nationally dispersed sites, can create substantial infrastructure and management complexity. Alternatively, trying to manage and protect multiple, disjointed islands of storage across sites can be a significant drain on both IT personnel and budgets. While consolidation of storage sounds great in theory, implementing it without degrading the user experience has been especially difficult. In addition, merger and acquisition activity is very heavy in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) space, creating an even greater need for data management and security while, at the same time, addressing issues of latency and file access.

Customer Challengeexp is one of North America’s fastest growing engineering consulting firms, providing professional, technical, and strategic services to the world’s built and natural environments in six key areas: Buildings; Earth & Environment; Energy; Industrial; Infrastructure; and Sustainability. With more than 3500 employees distributed across 109 sites from Alaska to Florida, the company has offices that range in size from two employees to more than 100. Storage usage extends from a couple of TBs to more than 20TB at some locations.

CAD “File Open” Problem*: End-User Productivity vs. IT EfficiencyIn the world of AEC, the remote CAD file open problem, due to excessive latency, is considered a major hindrance to productivity. exp applications that were affected included Revit for 3D modeling and design; ArcGIS for mapping / special analysis; and AutoCAD and Bentley CAD software. To address this problem, exp relied on

local SAN, file servers, and tape to store, serve, and protect its data. This was not an optimal solution as it helped with latency only for that specific office. When data moved between sites, major latency issues again cropped up. In addition, siloed storage at each office required separate local provisioning and maintenance. This set up favored some user productivity but not IT efficiency, thus creating massive synchronization, provisioning, access, and cost headaches.

De-centralized Storage ComplexityWith acquisitions being a strategic element of growth, exp needed a solution that could smooth the transition for new personnel (and IT systems), dispersed across the country, and assist in the adoption of enterprise-class data processes, such as archiving, disaster recovery, high availability, and SLA metrics. Adding to this concern was the fact that many of the company’s 70 remote offices had limited IT personnel (if any, at all) to handle basic data matters like backup. Not all exp offices were on the same page as backup solutions, for example, varied from office to office. A few offices used tape (cumbersome and slow), while others had virtual tape libraries or were using USB drives. Data backup methods included Microsoft distributed file system (DFS), Microsoft data protection manager (DPM), or Symantec Backup Exec. Across-the-board consistency did not exist and that was creating an IT problem concerning data management.

Case Study

With Panzura, exp saw immediate results:

• Eliminated Storage Silos and Local Management• Centralized to Private Cloud Storage• Preserved Local End-User Performance• Enhanced Global User Performance• Improved All Applications – AutoCAD, Revit, Bentley

Out of Control Data Growth The company was experiencing exponential data accumulation with increased file sizes, resulting in continuous storage shortages at multiple locations. exp now has more than 50,000 closed, inactive projects but the company needs to keep the data retrievable. This data resides on primary local storage indefinitely. In fact, upwards of 80% of the company’s files are not accessed, but are backed up regularly. Data files, which include CAD images, can be quite large, as in the 50-90GB/file range. And with no consistent methodology for tiering data to an archive, the problem just keeps growing.

The company needed to standardize its data protection capabilities, eliminating its tape and virtual libraries in favor of a private cloud for backup and recovery. exp desperately needed enterprise-class data services, with consolidation, archiving, access, security, and a highly improved global user experience. The solution had to fit today’s needs while being scalable for tomorrow’s growth. Centralized storage was needed in order to reduce local provisioning and management. And the solution had to be financially viable.

Benefits Gained from a Global File System with Cloud StorageAfter evaluating a variety of solutions, exp selected Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers, plus EMC Atmos cloud storage, thereby eliminating local SAN, file servers, and tape backups, tape infrastructure, and associated backup software. Key to the solution was Panzura’s global file system and its innovative caching technology that provided fast, local access to all project data, preserving the local user experience. Another major concern for exp was that it did not want its proprietary data on someone else’s site, and the Panzura solution addressed this by having all data reside behind the company’s firewall. Assisting in the final decision was the fact that the other evaluated companies did not have a predictable cost model.

Making it WorkWith headquarters in Brampton, Ontario, and a satellite office in Chicago serving as the disaster recovery site, connected by a 100Mb link., exp deployed an active-active Atmos cloud storage system across these locations. This allowed EMC to not only replicate data at each site, but also enabled an object-based cloud storage architecture, with the ability to store, archive, and access unstructured content at scale at each site.

Panzura’s globally distributed and synchronized file system integrated seamlessly with the existing in-house infrastructure and provided cross-site integration via the cloud, thereby addressing CAD access and performance issues. This solution provided a greater level of scale, efficiency, and automation to exp, enabling global data consolidation, reduced storage overhead, and easing access to data anytime, anywhere. Full local NAS file services, along with military-grade encryption and FIPS 140-2 validation, provided unmatched IT control and security to the cloud-integrated, global storage platform.

In evaluating the Panzura/Atmos solution, exp looked at a five-year horizon for cost savings. Capital acquisition plus maintenance helped exp make the business case. Cost of disk, backup software, and backup tapes on the old system ran about $2600 / year / TB. Now, with Panzura, exp expects to save about $100K/year over traditional storage. And these numbers do not even include improved productivity or the reduction in IT headcount resulting from far fewer sites and data silos to manage.

* For more information, please read the Panzura White Paper: CAD Theory of Operation and Best Practices with Panzura Cloud Storage Controllers

“Sharing across offices was problematic with local filers, and tape for backup has a litany of challenges. But replacing this storage and tape involved a number of moving parts: Central storage, local filers, local backup, and workflow sharing. We evaluated a variety of alternatives but were most impressed by all the benefits of cloud storage. The Panzura Global Cloud Storage System and EMC Atmos cloud storage together provide a seamless, drop-in solution to cover all the moving parts of workflow sharing and tape backup, support our suite of applications, and provided unlimited capacity. We are actively exploring other ways to use this combined solution.”

Doug Caldwell, CIO, exp

Panzura, Inc. | 695 Campbell Technology Pkwy #225, Campbell, CA, USA | 855-PANZURA | www.panzura.comCopyright © 2016 Panzura, Inc. All rights reserved. Panzura is a registered trademark or trademark of Panzura, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

© 2016 Panzura. vCS-exp-112916a