Replicating files - SmartPlant Foundation - IM Update 46 - Help - Hexagon

SmartPlant Foundation Help

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English
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SmartPlant Foundation
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SmartPlant Foundation / SDx Version
10
SmartPlant Markup Plus Version
10.0 (2019)
Smart Review Version
2020 (15.0)

In many cases, the SmartPlant Foundation server and file server are accessed by users over a wide area network (WAN). Slow connections can make accessing files across a WAN time consuming. To improve performance, administrators can configure remote vaults on a local network for the users so they have quicker access to the server or file server data.

When you attempt to view a file, the SmartPlant Foundation server checks to see whether the vault containing the file is replicated or not. If the vault is replicated, the server determines which local vault is applicable for the logged in user and then sends a request to the specified local file server to start the viewing process.

Files in replicated vaults can be viewed or modified. However, if files are modified, they are copied to the replicated vault and then copied to the main file server to allow other users access to the modified files. This process can take additional time.

Viewing, creating, and updating documents

The following graphic shows how the SmartPlant Foundation client accesses a local, replicated vault for viewing documents and the main SmartPlant Foundation file server for creating and updating documents.

In the following example, vaults are located on file server 1, file server 2, and file server 3. File server 1 is replicated on file server 3 using third-party replication software.

When a user requests to download a file from a vault on file server 1, the server checks the file server host for the user who is downloading the file and uses this to determine the server from which to download the file. The server determines that users located at the remote site are associated to file server 2 and therefore the server downloads the files from this server.

All users downloading files from vaults on file server 2 retrieve files directly from file server 2 regardless of their location, because the replication flag for the file server is set to false.

Server identification

If a file is viewed and replicated vaults are being used, it is necessary to know which file server to view the file from. To achieve this:

  • Create a new relationship between the host and the organization (SPFOrganizationFileServerHost).

  • Because a user probably belongs to an organization, a collection of the file hosts that a user wants to define as his local set can be configured by attaching the hosts to the organization object and ensuring that the user is a member of the correct organization.

  • When a file is viewed, its vault, and therefore its host, can be derived.

  • If a host is related to the user’s organization, it is considered as a local host to the user (user-organization-host). If the host derived from the file is local to the current user, the file is directly viewed.

  • If the host is not local to the current user, SmartPlant Foundation checks if this vault is replicated to any of the local hosts for the current user. If so, the file is directly viewed from the local host. If such a host is not found, the file is viewed remotely from the original host.