If DFX sounds like a new product to you, it isn't. For some time, it has been offered as an add-on product called DFMPro, which has been integrated into a number of high-profile CAD software solutions, including SolidWorks, Creo, and NX. DFX is the stand-alone product now offered by Geometric. While DMFPro works within a specific MCAD software package, DFX works with native models and assemblies in almost all CAD software programs. The cool thing about DFX is how easy it makes finding design flaws in the early design stages, helping to eliminate engineering change orders (ECOs).

Topics: AutoCAD, Backup System

Reality capture is a boom business for the building industry. With roughly 5 million existing commercial buildings in the United States alone, it’s easy to understand why. Laser-scanner-based reality capture is the dominant methodology used today to accurately capture the 3D state of an existing building. However, the typical laser-scan-based point cloud is in the hundreds of millions of 3D points, sometimes even going into the billions of points. With this additional data overhead on top of an already dense Building Information Model, it’s important to optimize your workstation hardware to deliver a productive user experience.

Topics: Workstations, Autodesk, RAM, Hardware, Graphics Card, Hard Drive, Processors, Revit, SSD Drive, GPU, Memory, Graphics Cards, Connectivity, Backup System, Video Cards, CAD

Optimizing hardware for SolidWorks is essential for getting the most out of this heavy-hitting CAD application, as we've discussed on CADspeed previously. So we were thrilled when the SolidWorks forum addressed this very issue recently on their forums.

Topics: Workstations, RAM, SolidWorks, Hardware, Graphics Card, Multi-Threading, Hard Drive, Processors, SSD Drive, GPU, Memory, Graphics Cards, Backup System, Video Cards, CAD

So we established that you need an online backup system for your CAD data, then we gave you some suggestions for solutions if you are a freelancer or small business owner. But what if you work for (or own) a company that is a large CAD service provider?

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Hard Drive, Connectivity, Backup System, CAD

So we established that you need an online backup system for your CAD data. So, where do you begin?

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Hard Drive, Connectivity, Backup System, CAD

Fire. Hurricane. Theft. Tornado. Grape juice. Electrical surge. Really when you get down to it there is no end to the list of disastrous events that can beginning of the end of your workstation’s hard drive. That may seem pretty obvious, but what may not be as obvious is that there is no end to the dangers that your data must face also! Whether you are a corporate giant or a freelancing CAD professional, the danger is really the same. Any day could be the day that you lose your valuable data!

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Hard Drive, Connectivity, Backup System, CAD

In my last post, I theorized how advances in mobility technology will affect the CAD workplace. Now, what are these wandering CAD minstrels going to work on? Oh, that is the beauty of it all.

Topics: Workstations, RAM, Accessories, Hardware, Multi-Threading, Hard Drive, Processors, Operating Systems, GPU, Graphics Cards, Mobile Workstations, Connectivity, Backup System, Video Cards, Dell Workstations, Windows, Display, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, Connectivity, Backup System, Network, CAD

Our first post introduced the idea of building of a network system for CAD operations. From an operator perspective, the workstation has the CAD application itself stored locally. But the files should reside on the shared storage device.

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, RAID, Connectivity, Backup System, Network, CAD

Topics: Workstations, Hardware, RAID, Connectivity, Backup System, Network, CAD