Frame for CAD Best practices for configuring, managing and running CAD applications on the cloud July 2016 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 2 of 32-V05-July 2016 Table of Contents: 1. What is Frame? 2. What is Frame for CAD? 3. Why run CAD in the cloud with Frame? 4. Getting started with Frame for CAD 5. CAD Applications in use on Frame Autodesk AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor i) Autodesk AutoCAD ii) Autodesk Revit iii) Autodesk Inventor ANSYS Portfolio Chaos Group V-Ray Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS LUXION KeyShot OpenBoM SIEMENS NX SIEMENS Solid Edge PTC CREO Vectorworks 6. Resources and references Appendix A: Autodesk licensing Appendix B: Autodesk benchmark results 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 3 of 32-V05-July 2016 1. What is Frame? Frame is a software platform for the cloud that delivers Windows desktop applications through a browser. This means users can access any Windows application from any device (PC, Chromebook, iPad, Kindle, Macbook, iPhone, etc.) without installing anything locally. It also means administrators can manage all their users, applications, and environments from a single location. Even high-end, graphically-intensive applications run great on Frame since each user’s session can be backed by powerful NVIDIA GPUs. Frame serves a range of users and application types from basic apps to CAD Frame comes in a variety of account types that serve software vendors, businesses, educational institutions, and personal users. It supports all Windows applications: from office productivity tools to high-end graphics, scientific, and engineering tools. This document provides guidelines and best practices - specifically for running CAD, AEC and CAE software on Frame for Business, Frame for Education, and Frame Personal accounts. For more information about Frame in general, account types, pricing, and other application areas, see www.fra.me. ​ ​ 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 4 of 32-V05-July 2016 2. What is Frame for CAD? This Frame for CAD document is a set of best practices for using Frame for running CAD tools and workflows on the cloud. Whether you are an individual user, a team of users, a value added reseller, or an educational organization offering CAD/CAE/AEC as part of your curriculum, you can use this document to get the most out of the Frame cloud platform. These best practices, methods, and policies have been assembled by Frame, its community of users, and ISVs to help ensure the best possible experience for new users of the Frame cloud platform. Once placed into practice, these methods are documented as a “Frame Tested” configuration, then submitted to the respective ISV for formal certification to guarantee Frame as a high performance, supported platform. The following diagram provides an overview of the Frame for CAD architecture and typical use cases. Frame for CAD system architecture and use cases 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 5 of 32-V05-July 2016 3. Why run CAD in the cloud with Frame? Frame has many use cases and many advantages. This section covers the main advantages of Frame for CAD applications. If you want to learn more about how Frame can help you and your organization overall, visit the product section of the Frame website to get more information. ​ ​ No need to change your CAD software or CAD workflows Before Frame, adopting the cloud for CAD workflows primarily had to do with moving to cloud-based file storage. This essentially meant splitting up your workflow and spending ​ a lot of time downloading and uploading files. Native cloud/web apps for CAD are sometimes an option but they have a very limited set of features compared to established Windows-based CAD tools. Attempts to switch to native cloud apps creates an inefficient and fragmented CAD environment. With Frame, you can continue to use the tools you’re used to, the way that you’re used to, and get all the benefits of the cloud--including seamless integration of CAD apps with cloud storage. "Cloud-based 3D engineering tools are nifty, but not mature enough for a production environment. Frame gives us the speed, reliability, and convenience of the cloud, but with tried-and-true code. Performing 3D design, simulation, and rendering in a browser? Game changed." Adam O’Hern, Head of Design, Mechanical Color ​ ​ Centralized management and administration Frame allows you to focus on being a design expert, not an IT expert. Managing desktops and laptops used for CAD, as well as managing license servers and PDM systems, can be very complex and time consuming. One is faced with the problems of distribution across multiple locations, management and ownership across different departments, and discrepancies in configurations. With Frame, every element of CAD management and administration is centralized. Network License Management (NLM) and authentication servers and PDM systems can be installed on Frame utility servers to maintain compliance and make them accessible from anywhere. Similarly, CAD software need only be installed and set up once. It can then be accessed by any number of users from any browser. 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 6 of 32-V05-July 2016 Access on-the-go Have a device with a web browser and access to the Internet? With Frame, you can access your applications and files from home, a customer site, or, indeed, from anywhere. Your location is no longer a factor: the need to lug around a huge laptop to run CAD applications is a thing of the past. “With Frame I can get rid of my boat anchor of a laptop and literally take a weight off my shoulders. Now I can use my (applications) anywhere, even at the beach.” Milt Venetos, Principal and Founder, Wyatt Enterprises ​ ​ Pay only for what you use Cloud delivery gives you the flexibility to scale up and down with your changing needs from one day to the next. Start with as little as one user, add users as they need access, and pay only for the time that you’re actually using your CAD tools. You can even expand access to CAD tools across the parts of your organization that may need only occasional access. Computing resources on demand Frame’s leverage of on demand cloud resources is especially helpful for computationally intensive processes, such as simulation and rendering. Start with a Frame Air 4GB instance that includes 1 CPU core and 4GB of RAM; then scale up to a Frame Pro 16GB instance with 4 CPU cores, 16GB of RAM, and a dedicated 4GB NVIDIA GPU, when you need it. Need more? Choose a Pro 64GB instance that has four 4GB NVIDIA GPUs, 64GB of RAM, and 16 CPU cores! Hyperscale capacity and consistent experience Frame dynamically leverages the massive capacity and elasticity of the public cloud infrastructure via global service providers, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. This means that, regardless of time and location, there will always be a system available for you to use. Frame has been proven to scale to thousands of simultaneous concurrent sessions and connections for the most demanding enterprise customers. Each individual user on Frame connects to his own dedicated and secure system (virtual machine.) This ensures predictable performance, regardless of the total system load. 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 7 of 32-V05-July 2016 Best-in-class customer support & success team Running CAD applications is demanding. When you need help, you want to talk to the best. Frame's customer support team will be there for you from beginning to end. Our specialists are trained in all aspects of the Frame cloud platform and are well versed in the underlying technology. In addition, Frame team has deep experience working directly with ISVs during certification of all major applications. We can help you get going quickly. Certified, supported, and recommended When choosing a hardware platform to run your mission-critical CAD applications, it’s important to know that your ISV has tested and certified the platform, and that they will support the software. Frame has spent thousands of hours working with CAD ISVs to ensure that their applications run optimally on Frame. In addition, Frame deploys unique optimizations to provide experience and workflows that are often better than on traditional platforms. For more information about the testing and benchmarks which were performed as part of the certification process, see the individual application sections that follow. 2016 © Frame. All rights reserved. 8 of 32-V05-July 2016 4. Getting started with Frame for CAD Consider this your checklist to take you from preflight to launch with Frame. The sections below will help you plan, test, and publish your apps on Frame. Frame is incredibly easy to setup and maintain. If you’re an existing CAD user familiar with your tools and workflows, the entire process shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. Check the application section of this document for details specific to each specific ISV and application. 1. Confirm End Point Requirements ✓ You need a reliable Internet connection to run apps on Frame. ○ For example, connecting to a speedtest.net server close to one of Frame ​ ​ locations (for a detailed list, please see Section 6) should indicate at least 3 Mbps with a ping time of 100ms or less. ✓ You’ll also need a “modern” (less than 5 years old) computer or tablet with the latest version of a current browser installed. ○ We recommend Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 11, but pretty much anything will ​ work. 2. Obtain Application Licensing: For individuals, this usually means a MAC address-based (node locked) license, activation code, online activation instructions, web-based subscription login and/or serial number. In some cases you’ll need to provide valid network licenses to run CAD apps on Frame.