microsites>>   

New Availl Software Accelerates Shared CAD File Performance for Remote CAD Teams

Delivers Local LAN Speed at All Sites No Matter the Distance or Team Size; Real-Time File Locking and Full Coherence Give Greater Productivity, Lower Cost Than PDM

ANDOVER, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/23/2006 -- Availl Inc., a leading provider of real-time data and storage software, announced it has shipped a new version of its WAFS software that accelerates remote sharing of CAD and other files across wide area networks. Design engineering teams at over a hundred organizations worldwide use Availl to provide remote-site teams with unprecedented productivity compared to traditional PDM solutions -- while lowering bandwidth by 95 percent or more. File performance at each office is at LAN speed, regardless of distance between offices, nor which office or how often the files are modified.

Whether SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Microstation, Microsoft Office or other solutions, Availl users including ThyssenKrupp, Alliance Engineering, Trane, Big Joe Manufacturing, and 14 of the Fortune 100 are empowering their design teams to work at local access speeds -- no matter how distant their offices, nor the size and complexity of the CAD files.

In addition, Availl shipped a new version of its Availl CDP remote continuous data protection software that allows IT staffs to consolidate real-time server backup for both hot databases and unlimited files into one unified architecture. By allowing server backup consolidation over any distance with technologies optimized for both databases and files, Availl assures all files receive true continuous protection. Availl's automated temp-file elimination, together with byte-level delta technology and compression, allows true CDP even over global distances.

CAD file performance issues have increased as organizations decentralize operations -- with an estimated 75 percent of information assets now existing outside the corporate data center. Traditionally CAD organizations used Product Data Management (PDM) packages to control sharing among local team members. PDM packages integrate with PLM/CAD applications to act as the project traffic cop -- enforcing rules for "one user at a time" and "no one ever works on an old version."

PDM packages work best over LANs and are impractical for sharing most designs over WANs. However, CAD teams today work on designs simultaneously, needing 24x7 across the WAN from multiple time zones. PDM approaches force IT to run nightly synchronizations. This breaks the PDM rules and allows multiple users at multiple locations to introduce design changes at the same time.

Alliance Engineering Inc: Smarter Deployment of Workforce

"When I spoke to colleagues at bigger engineering firms about how they supported remote offices, I didn't like what I was told," said Eddie Greene, IT manager of Alliance Engineering, an engineering firm with offices in both Virginia and Maryland. "These were major companies, and they were relying on one-way updates to or from remote sites between 2 am and 4 am. I knew that we could never work that way. We have more than 160 thousand files requiring approximately 60 GB of disc space, with many users creating files or accessing, modifying and/or referencing the existing set of files across three sites."

"Availl has made a major impact on our business. Because of Availl, we now can level out the workload across offices -- using employees from one office to supplement the staff on projects in another office basically because we can readily access and manage files just as if we were down the hall," Greene said.

"Availl was the only vendor I found whose solution gave local access times, even on large AutoCad files, with real-time file locking. We avoid those PDM system nightmares I heard about from colleagues, and our users work at local network speeds at all offices without conflicts that occur when other colleagues are accessing the same file."

Availl WAFS: Real-Time, No Matter the Distance

With Availl, every remote CAD team of any size now has local server performance -- even with the largest, complex CAD files and directories, at any global distance. Availl's unique Wide Area File System (WAFS) technology allows entire teams to benefit from enhanced efficiency and time-savings.

The software's enhancements support unique functionality for CAD team productivity, including:

-- Exceptional speed no matter the distance. Availl users have deployed the product in settings with over 1 million files, and global distances. Yet files open at local disk speed.

-- Massive scalability. The new version further increases the scale that any site can handle. An agent loaded on one windows server can support an office with any number of users, and any amount of file activity.

-- Real-time file lock coherence. Only one user has a read/write copy; all others get a read-only version. All teams at all locations work productively on the same project files including library and external reference files.

-- Real-time file version coherence. While files are always accessible, Availl guarantees that users always open the last version, even if it is being modified at another site.

-- Full transparency, so files remain in their existing Windows folders, and are 100% fully usable by any number of users, 24 x 7. Local access is from shared folders at the local Windows server at each site.

-- Local performance, all the time, everywhere. With Availl, all files are fully mirrored at each local server as they change. So files open at local hard drive speed, even in settings with massive numbers of files and large distance. Files open at LAN speed because all files ARE from the local file server disk, in each office. This design provides 100% access even if the WAN is down.

Availl CDP: Decreases Network Traffic, Real-Time Backup Consolidation 

The new Availl CDP software's enhancements significantly benefit IT staffs with:

-- Remote real-time consolidation of backups. The Vault within Availl's software stores past versions and deleted files at one central site -- so if users need any past changes, restores are both instant and easy.

-- Real-time databases and any instant-in-time. True continuous backup means that both databases and any number of files can be consolidated to one single server. Supporting continuous backup for remote offices is easy, even with no IT staff on site.

-- Disk-based Vault repository of full version trail of files and folders. Instant restore and web based restore. Individual file's past version retrieval, and any instant in time restore.

-- Vastly reduced network traffic. Availl's technology sends only byte level differences as the files change, then compresses and encrypts them. This approach overcomes network limitations by eliminating 95% of bandwidth.

-- Affordability. Availl is a fast software download that installs onto any existing Windows server in minutes, with no overhead and no requirements for dedicated appliances. No change to LAN or WAN configuration, and no software or change to user workstations.

Pricing and Availability 

Availl is available now and is sold directly by Availl and select resellers. Availl WAFS for CAD and other file access is priced starting at $3995 for the first two servers. Availl Continuous Data Protection (CDP) is priced from $995 per server. 

About Availl

Founded in 2002, Availl provides Wide Area File System (WAFS) solutions for enterprises of all sizes. Availl's real time technology ensures that files exist in many remote locations simultaneously, and in complete synchronization with full version and lock coherence -- no matter where changes are made. Availl's products are built on unique real-time technology for efficient multi-directional mirroring, rapid data caching and extreme data reduction, with guaranteed real-time file coherence between remote sites. It creates a unified file system at any distance via LAN, VPN, or web (http crossing firewalls). Availl also provides continuous data protection solutions for file and database backup consolidation.

Headquartered in Andover MA, Availl is privately held and has been consistently profitable for over 2 years. Its large customer base includes major engineering design firms, financial service institutions, and many of the largest worldwide manufacturers among the Fortune 100. 

www.availl.com

  Get a free CADinfo news feed here...

 

Sponsored Links

<% Call SelectBanner("sponsoredlinks") %> AnyDWG Offers DWG to PDF, DWG to DXF, PDF to DWG, DWG to JPG, PDF to DXF Converters

AutoDWG offers DWF to DWG, DWG to PDF , PDF to DWG, DWG to Flash Converters, DWG Viewer.

eCampus.com Get your stuff for College... Cheap! Textbooks, Greek Gear, DVD's, University Clothing, Computers and MORE!

Access Your PC from Anywhere Free Trial plus 10% Off!