3 Replies Latest reply: Jun 8, 2009 6:05 AM by Mike.Edel RSS

    Which factors affect the working speed of a distributed ID/IC workflow?

    Mike.Edel Community Member

      Hi all,

       

      we have a pretty complicated structure for our different departments that have to work on print documents:

       

      Multimedia department in location A that sets up the layout/assignments in InDesign --> has a local server where it can store everything for fast local access.

       

      Multimedia department in location B that also sometimes sets up layouts/assignments and stores them on their local server.

      Editing department in location B that accesses the assignments stored in location A and location B

       

      The connection between location A and B is a 4 Mbit permanent link (SDSL, meaning both ways are 4 Mbit).

      Latency is about 25ms, which is pretty good. Distance about 400km.

       

      Server is a Windows Server with shares.

       

      What would be the best way to ensure that the editing department gets the best possible speed while making sure that the multimedia department (especially location A) still has good speed, too?

      Lately the editors have been complaining that working in the incopy files is rather slow. It takes minutes to open files and seconds for the cursor to appear when clicking into a text block.

       

      Is there anything we can do? Moving the whole Project to location B would mean that the designers have to open the entire layout over the network connection - we tried that and it was even slower.

       

      I always thought that once checked out the story would be cached locally and only saved back to the remote server when checking back in? I don't get it why the location has so much influence on the working speed in that case...

      The bandwidth shouldn't be the problem, too since there isn't much going on on our network most of the time.

       

      Can anybody shed some light on this?

       

      Typical document: 20-50 pages, not too many images (I'd guess about 1 per 2 or 3 pages), one assignment per chapter (resulting in 4-6 assignments overall), 2-4 text blocks per page.

       

      Any hints and advice would be appreciated...

       

      Best regards,

       

      Mike

        • 1. Re: Which factors affect the working speed of a distributed ID/IC workflow?
          AnneMarie Concepcion CommunityMVP

          Mike, IC/ID is designed for concurrent access on a *local* file server. It doesn't do well at all via VPN or long distance networks, in my experience. (Your times sound pretty speedy to me, actually.) The "caching of local files" only applies to Version Cue. That's not how InCopy/InDesign work on their own.

           

          That is the reason for the remote workflow feature ("Package for InCopy.") The designers in Location A would create InCopy packages for the editors in Location B. The editors in Location B open the packages on their local computers in InCopy, edit them, then choose Return for InDesign (or Forward for InCopy if another editor needs to work on it). All the packages are sent as attachements to email or downloaded from the server.

           

          The designers in Location B would continue to put their projects on the local server, and the editors in Location B would continue to work directly off that server for those projects.

           

          If the remote (packages) workflow is not workable for you; you might consider a cloud computing sort of solution. I've had a great experience using both Window's LiveSynch and/or the service called Dropbox (getdropbox.com); both are free and both are biplatform. Everyone gets to work locally but the files are synched via the cloud automatically in the background, including the lock files.

           

          AM

          • 2. Re: Which factors affect the working speed of a distributed ID/IC workflow?
            Mike.Edel Community Member

            Hi AnneMarie,


            thanks for the fast reply.

             

            We will test the package workflow once more - the problem is that this puts additional work in the hands of the (usually lone) designer working on the layout.

            Too bad there is no local caching going on - I must have confused that with the feature set of Woodwing Enterprise (which we would be great to have for our setting but which doesn't come cheap...)

             

            Regarding Windows LiveSynch - I was told by our server specialists that Windows Server 2008 would include so called distributed shadow copies that would allow background replication of folders on different servers. I actually never heard of LiveSynch or Dropbox - will have a look at them.

             

            Greetings

             

            Mike

            • 3. Re: Which factors affect the working speed of a distributed ID/IC workflow?
              BobLevine CommunityMVP

              I'll second the thought that given the description it sounds very fast. There's nothing I can think of that would speed that up over a remote network.

               

              AM's suggestions are the best advice you'll get. Let us know what you decide or if you have any questions about them.

               

              Bob