Hey everyone! It's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy focusing on my personal development over the past year. I've had a lot of time to dive into my readings and tackle some software challenges to train myself.
About 6-7 months ago, I bought a new laptop and started using my old one as a desktop. But eventually, I realized that I was just using it as a desktop to avoid constantly plugging and unplugging my new laptop to my monitor. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and create my own server.
As an architect who loves all kinds of software, especially Revit, I should have done this a long time ago. In my previous projects, we had central Revit files and BIM models of the projects that we were working on. However, in Russia, they never established a proper Revit Server, so we used a local area network with a file server to store the central file. Although we never had any major issues, I knew this wasn't the ideal approach. Unfortunately, my efforts to shift to a proper Revit server were rejected by my manager and IT guys' advice. They argued that since all the computers were wired locally and they were using Revit in one office, they never encountered any problems.
If you're someone who wants to have your own Revit server at home and feel like you're part of a team, you've come to the right place. Here's what I did:
First, I downloaded Windows Server 2012 for my 64-bit processor-powered laptop. Next, I set my network IPs, gateways, DNS, and subnets considering the router, access point, and slave switch that I use for intranet. This stage took a while to understand, and I even wasted a week on networking 101 tutorials on YouTube. Luckily, a friend, Andrew, helped me out by reminding me to arrange my devices to be in the same subnet, which is one of the most important things to do. Otherwise, you'll keep encountering Windows authentication asking passwords from Digest. If you get that error and can't solve it using online guides, don't worry. Just relax, play with your dog, and ask for help from an IT friend.
The Revit user application, which runs in workstations connected to the server, can access the Revit Server folder to open projects. This eliminates the need for anyone to manually navigate to a folder using Windows Explorer, reducing the risk of accidentally deleting or moving files. Once the user connects to the server and opens a project, it creates a local copy in the My Documents folder on the workstation. Then, the user only needs to open that file to continue working until syncing with the server to send changes in the file to the server.
We all know that working in Revit in a single office isn't ideal unless you have all the subcontractors working in the same office. The most important thing with the Revit Server is that you need a static IP to create connections between offices to work together. IT guys call it WAN, or wide area network. Only then will Revit power the projects to be truly competitive and efficient.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps to find a new angle into your Revit workflows.