Mastering Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2013

Chapter 27

BIM in the Cloud

The AEC industry has come a long way in the last couple years since the chapter “Revit in the Cloud” in Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011. Since then, many firms have taken advantage of cloud-based hosting and computing to lower IT costs while increasing productivity. This update assumes you're generally familiar with cloud-based services as we consider how the technologies and services have matured. Gone are the days where we have to transfer large models around via FTP and wait days for design feedback. Clients expect almost real-time feedback, projects are moving faster, and firms are looking at tighter margins. All these things require maximum efficiency, and a BIM cloud provides just that.

In this chapter, you'll learn how to do the following:

• Realize practical, real-time collaboration with owner, design, and construction teams (IPD)
• Fit Autodesk's cloud into your BIM cloud collaboration
• Integrate a BIM cloud into your overall IT strategy

Understanding the Latest in BIM Cloud-Based Technology

Technology vendors Microsoft, Citrix, Oracle, VMware, nVidia, Teradici, Kaviza, and countless others are in a race to be the provider of virtual or remote desktop solutions because those are central to gaining all our cloud business. Because of this race, the technologies and approaches are changing rapidly. In the following sections, we'll look at some of the BIM cloud desktop building blocks. But keep in mind desktop virtualization or remote desktops ...