Before you begin your Vault installation, you should prepare for the deployment by examining your environment and gathering data to ensure an optimal installation experience.
A Vault implementation can be as simple as installing all components on a single computer, or as complex as installing components on several computers in different locations. The more complex the implementation, the more information there is to consider. The following sections detail information to consider to make the best decisions for your Vault implementation.
Knowing the number of users helps prevent access problems and slow response times. For example, if you have more than ten concurrent users, use Windows® Server 2012. For more than 25 users, consider upgrading to the full standard edition or enterprise edition of SQL. Microsoft SQL Express allows only 25 concurrent connections. When implementing Vault for a single user, you can load all the components on a single computer.
When determining the number of servers, keep in mind how information flows from the client computer to the Vault server to the SQL server and back. (See How Vault Works for more information.)
Vault uses Microsoft SQL so it is more processor intensive than memory intensive like some other applications. Avoid loading Vault components on servers that already have a high CPU usage.
Vault Server can be loaded on several different operating systems. When deciding to use a non-server operating system, consider the limitations.
For example, Windows 7 has a limit of ten concurrent users and three concurrent web service requests.
Firewalls can block incoming requests. During the Vault Server installation, the server is checked for known firewalls. Firewalls can require that you configure them to allow the Vault Server to communicate correctly. Some system protection software can include firewalls. Check these tools for the existence of firewalls.
Vault can be processor intensive. Loading the Vault Server on a server with other processor intensive applications can cause Vault to run slower than expected.
Autodesk Vault requires a minimum of Microsoft SQL 2012 Express (SP2). See the Installation Requirements section in this topic for more information.
If your Vault implementation requires more capacity than SQL 2012 Express (SP2), set up the Vault server using the Standard or Enterprise versions of SQL.
How often the Vault Server is accessed affects the server performance. For example, a Vault implementation with 50 users and one or two users checking out one or two files a day does not tax the server much. Using the same configuration with 35 of the users accessing the vault every 10 minutes will have a greater impact on Vault Server performance since it exceeds the recommended number of concurrent users.
Although network speed is commonly equated to latency, you should also consider bandwidth and throughput. Network speed is an important factor to consider when trying to get the best performance for your Vault implementation. By running tests to measure your latency, bandwidth, and throughput between all of the servers, you can gain an idea of how fast the connections are. Copy a few large files from one server to another. When performing this test, copy from Server A to Server B and then copy from server B to Server A. Data traveling from one server to another does not always take the same route when traveling back.
If you are installing the server components for Vault Professional, you have several options to better support teams distributed across multiple locations. Vault Professional supports Multi-Site replication with a central remote database. Vault Professional also allows a single site to implement Vault with a dedicated database server.
Multiple remote sites can be configured to access the same vault data. A site is comprised of a dedicated Autodesk data management server and a file store. Each site accesses a shared AUTODESKVAULT SQL instance.
In addition to a traditional multi-site environment configuration, the multi-site architecture can be expanded by using the Autodesk Vault File Server. In this layout, a remote site hosts its filestore locally, similar to a traditional multi-site environment, while directing meta-data traffic to the Autodesk Data Management Server to which it is connected. This configuration can provide considerable performance improvements if the remote site has a poor or slow connection to the SQL server. See Autodesk Vault File Server for more information.
Replication is the process of copying data from one server to another server usually located in two different physical locations. This process allows the setup of a Vault environment which has two different locations and users will not have to spend time downloading large CAD files across their Wide Area Network (WAN) connection.
The connected workgroup feature in Autodesk Vault Professional supports the use of multiple database servers using Microsoft SQL merge replication technology. This technology allows the replication of the SQL database at multiple locations.