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Can EPDM be used with a cloud service such as Azure, Google Could or AWS?

Question asked by Øystein Risan Borgersen on Feb 8, 2017
Latest reply on May 18, 2018 by Joakim Ericson

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Hi!

We're doing a start up and got our entrepreneur licenses and everything in order. Being familiar with EPDM from my day job, I know that it will be a big plus (actually a necessity) for us as the models and product documentation is now starting to pile up. Also we need a proper workflow, revisioning etc. However, the solutions I have heard of are either expensive or too time consuming (VAR or own server solution). A colleague of mine said that we should check out a cloud service provider and see if they could help out, and although I know how to work with EPDM, setups and all, I do not know much about cloud storage of this type.

Has anyone got any experience and/or knowledge on the matter?

Thanks in advance!

Tim Webb Feb 8, 2017 11:00 AM

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My business has setup an Azure cloud server using PDM on the cloud. Now I connect via VPN from anywhere in the world. Latency is an issue on large assemblies only because it has to pull down the file from the file archive to the local cache. Checkout/in is a tad slower but in general it meets all my needs.

EPIGRID is a SOLIDWORKS Solution Partner who has a solution that fits this requirement.

Hope this helps,

Tim CEPAhttps://equivaq.com/

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Wojciech Paterski Feb 8, 2017 9:37 AM
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it could be a bit slow on operations: check in/out, approve, change, etc. our is slow with all the state changes (and we have servers on site). can't imagine how this would work with every single operation checking file state in the cloud.

but apart from that should work i think - it's just another location for files
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Prasad Bhonsule Feb 8, 2017 10:55 AM
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Hello, I had a couple of customers having their servers located on a cloud platform such as AWS or Azure etc. While it is not officially supported by SolidWorks (and therefore your VAR), there is no reason why it won't work.

The main thing to consider is the speed and latency of the connection between the cloud machines (wherever they are located) and your clients. It will not be as fast as a local server in your office, but if you're not dealing with massive assemblies, check in/out, change state etc shouldn't be slowed down too much.

Kind regards

Prasad
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Tim Webb Feb 8, 2017 11:00 AM
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My business has setup an Azure cloud server using PDM on the cloud. Now I connect via VPN from anywhere in the world. Latency is an issue on large assemblies only because it has to pull down the file from the file archive to the local cache. Checkout/in is a tad slower but in general it meets all my needs.

EPIGRID is a SOLIDWORKS Solution Partner who has a solution that fits this requirement.
Hope this helps,
Tim CEPAhttps://equivaq.com/
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- Tom Cote @ Tim Webb on Feb 8, 2017 2:14 PM
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  I have setup PDM on MS Azure for both myself and for a few customers. I agree with Tim, a large assembly may take a little time to cache to the client HD but after that it's been working great. Setting up on Azure on your own, you probably will either need to setup either the Azure VPN (I believe it's an additional $25/mo) or get a shareware VPN software.
  
  My customer has expressed how great it's been working for him and that he is very pleased that he's decided to setup on the Azure.
  
  ~Tom, CEPA, http:/appliedcadsolutions.com
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  - Øystein Risan Borgersen @ Tom Cote on Feb 9, 2017 6:31 AM
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    Wow, great information guys! Thanks a lot
    
    So it seems the experiences here are (so far) with MS Azure. I have spoken with all three providers and I'm not entirely sure which one I should go with. They all have their own entrepreneur programs and such, but other than that I don't really know about any other critical differences.
    
    Would you recommend anyone in particular between MS Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon AWS? So far at least, I have the best impression of Amazon AWS, but I've been wrong in the past...
    
    Thanks again!
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    - Prasad Bhonsule @ Øystein Risan Borgersen on Feb 9, 2017 6:35 AM
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      Hello, I can't comment on Azure or Google, but I've used AWS before and the experience was great. Very intuitive and simple set up of a machine, the management console is also very easy to use.
      
      Kind regards
      
      Prasad
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      - Øystein Risan Borgersen @ Prasad Bhonsule on Feb 9, 2017 9:11 AM
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        You've used AWS in general (S3?), or actually in combination with EPDM?
        
        The contact from Amazon told me it would probably work as EPDM supports WMware, and dug up this address for me: SOLIDWORKS
        So what should I do? Just grab a free trial and try my hand at figuring it out?
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        Prasad Bhonsule @ Øystein Risan Borgersen on Feb 9, 2017 7:49 AM
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        Hello sorry for the late reply.
        
        I've used S3 for storage, and EC2 for hosting servers on AWS. I had EPDM servers running on AWS EC2 machines, with clients in a remote office.
        
        I would definitely have a free trial and see how you go. In terms of technical differences between Azure and AWS, there probably;y isn't much. AWS is probably a little bit cheaper, and I always found their support (if I needed it) to be good.
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        Øystein Risan Borgersen @ Prasad Bhonsule on Feb 9, 2017 9:13 AM
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        Wow this is good stuff. Thanks so much for the info!
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Jamie Abbott Feb 9, 2017 6:31 AM
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Have you looked into GrabCAD Workbench? I've started at a new place with the not too uncommon mess of files at various revision states all over the server and have been looking at various PDM solutions.

Although not a fully fleged PDM system, if your main concern is sharing design data and having version control, it looks like it may be what you're after. And it's free! But you are relying on your design data being held on GrabCAD's servers, I believe they host on AWS.

Jamie
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- Øystein Risan Borgersen @ Jamie Abbott on Feb 9, 2017 7:04 AM
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  Good suggestion. I will check it out.
  
  I have heard GrabCAD mentioned but haven't ever actually used it. Also I'm quite familiar with EPDM/Enovia so the threshold to get going would probably be lower for the latter...
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  - Tom Cote @ Øystein Risan Borgersen on Feb 9, 2017 7:15 AM
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    I've looked at the three and my customer chose Azure, they never said what their reasoning was. I've been looking around and AWS seemed like it was a little cheaper.
    
    Have you ever looked at Kenesto? They are a simple cloud based PDM system.
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    - Øystein Risan Borgersen @ Tom Cote on Feb 9, 2017 7:45 AM
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      Had a quick look, and although it seems like a good fit, I do really like EPDM with the seamless integration and all. Also the fact that I have experience with it helps.
      
      Will go another round with the guys though, but right now it seems like a tie between Azure and AWS. Now I need those to come up with a deal which is sweet enough
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Tim Webb Feb 9, 2017 10:33 AM
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Thanks for voting my response as correct answer Øystein!

I forgot to mention the Microsoft BizSpark program.

The BizSpark program gets you access to resources you need as a start-up in the form of monthly credits toward VMs, Azure space for 5 developers, SQL server, Visual Studio, etc. If I remember correctly, I believe the program initially gives you 3 years of the monthly credits, which is really good. We have taken advantage of this program to get do some huge product development during 2015 and 2016. Check it out and come to your own conclusions.

Hope this helps...someone out there!
Tim CEPA
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Joakim Ericson May 18, 2018 5:45 AM
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When you say that the latency could be a problem when checking in/out large assemblies to a PDM hosted in the cloud - what is your definition of "large assemblies"? What is the sizes of theese assemblies?
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