Autodesk® CFD is built upon a client/server architecture. This enables a simulation model to be defined on a local machine and run on either another machine or in the cloud.
For a single-seat installation, the default setting shown in the Solver Computer drop menu is the name of the machine. This means that analyses will run locally without requiring any additional steps. During the analysis, Autodesk® CFD can be shut down and the analysis will continue to run. (Check the Task Manager.) When the Autodesk® CFD interface is started again and that analysis opened, either the current status of the analysis will show, or it will be completed and the final results will be available.
Building upon these concepts, Autodesk® CFD features the ability to solve remotely. This is a way to run analyses on remote computers (on your network). Analyses are set up locally (on the Interface Computer), but assigned to run on the machine chosen in the Analysis Computer drop menu. Every machine on the network that is set up as an Solver Computer will be listed here.
The Solver Computer menu is automatically populated with several options for solving simulations: