Database in BIM360

[ayakus]

We have two locations each have there own database.  Our sister location needs access to our database to do some modeling for us on a project.  Has anyone uploaded there working database to BIM360 docs?  I was thinking they could load the database from their BIM360 desktop folder.  I should note we are working in Revit with BIM360 design.

[bobcat09]

Dropbox has worked well for use. We use profiles, keeps everybody out of our global. 6 different locations, CADmep/Revit, ESTmep and CAMduct all tied to one database. Dropbox also worked out great when everybody had to work remotely, no VPN required to access the database. The way dropbox works, I do not see many cloud services offering the same syncing methods they use. I did not try BIM 360 Doc but did try One Drive, One Drive failed miserably.

[ayakus]

Thanks for the reply.  We are going to have another location soon so I really need to figure out the best way to setup the database going forward.  This is a quick hurry up and figure something out fire drill.  We use profiles also I'm thinking I probably couldn't just send the the profile to load in their database because of Revit relying on the GUID.  My next shot was going to be One Drive really appreciate that heads up.  Drop box sounds like a good option.

[Darren Young]

If you can access servers from one location to another, you can also roll your own solution with Robocopy and a little batch files work.

That tends to be my preference because I can granularly manage the files the way I want. Most of the Sync'ing utilities you can't control what syncs or when. When there are a lot of changes, it does pose some risk of corruption as you may be referencing the database when only some of the files are synced and not all of them.

This risk gets smaller w/Revit as Revit only reads the database when you load/reload it, not as you're drawing like CADmep does.

[patryduf]

What happens if a firm with a database "X" starts the project and then a second firm with a database "Y" has to finish it because the first firm didn't do a good enough job. The first database is not available anymore and the job has to be done?

Can one just load a second database into the model and go on with it?

[Darren Young]

What happens if a firm with a database "X" starts the project and then a second firm with a database "Y" has to finish it because the first firm didn't do a good enough job. The first database is not available anymore and the job has to be done?

Can one just load a second database into the model and go on with it?

CADmep...Yes. Might get messy but can be (and has been) done.

Revit....officially No. Unofficially...I likely could make it happen but would advise against it. Revit's just too unstable across too many versions to do anything like this. I'd recommend linking in the one model and continuing to draw in the new one.  Sheetmetal might get a little more tricky than piping if you need to fab it. But there are ways to "point" it to your DB. But you're better off running it into CAD/CAM or EST for cleanup first.

Just another case of Autodesk not understanding or caring what really needs to happen to pull a project together.

[APD-DB]

We use Dropbox for our database and are also at different locations.  Works well.  We looked at one drive but there are character limitations that dropbox did not have and our database has been setup on Dropbox for many years.