Autodesk Vault

[Devin Johnston]

Does anyone here use this and can you explain to me what it is and what benefit it would bring to using it?

[moshenko]

Does anyone here use this and can you explain to me what it is and what benefit it would bring to using it?

 

I don't use it but I know a little bit of info about it. Vault is, AFAIK, roughly the equivalent of SafeSource or other version-control software (like the open source CVS and Subversion). These types of software are used in programming to organize code versions and track changes. Rather than having a bunch of files sitting in a flat (i.e., directory) storage system where users open, edit and resave, Vault is a layer on top of the file storage system that controls who can access each file and what gets done to that file when it is "saved". The basic workflow is to log into the Vault system (sitting on your server), "check out" files for editing, perform your work and then save the files by checking them back in. Vault makes sure that the file you are checking in/out is not currently in use (file locking) and then saves a backup version when you check the file back in. Basic advantages of a system like Vault are that users are no longer able to accidently overwrite files and multiple people don't end up working on the same file unknowingly; the disadvantage, in my mind, is the added layer of administration and maintenance. The last time I explored Vault I found that one thing that really scared me was the way in which Vault renamed files when they were put into the system. Rather than retaining original file names they were named (I think) numerically in the order in which they were input. The file names looked normal to the end user but in the actual storage system they were named differently. I had nightmares thinking about what would happen if my Vault system failed and I had to get people working while it was fixed...

 

I'm sure it does much more than this but in general this is what Vault was like when I tested the last version.