Portal provides grid-powered CAD data translation

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 15, 2004

CADportal is a novgel enterprise job management software solution for automatically, checking, healing and translating 3D CAD data.

CADportal is a new, enterprise job management software solution for automatically, checking, healing and translating 3D CAD data.

Developed jointly by Elysium and Nexroot, this highly scalable technology is available for enterprise implementations at manufacturers needing to streamline multi-CAD environments.

CADportal is written in Java using grid computing architecture to streamline and enable the CAD translation process.

Grid technology enables dynamic access to additional computing resources by integrating computers over a network and dispatching jobs in parallel to multiple computer nodes.

CADportal has combined this advanced computing power with Elysium's range of high-end translation technologies, which support bidirectional Catia V4, Catia V5, Pro/Engineer, Mechanical Desktop, I-deas NX, Unigraphic NX, JT, Iges and Parasolid formats.

The Elysium translators also provide advanced healing of 3D data and translation of features within CADportal.

"The strength of Nexroots technological excellence with Grid Computing means that manufacturers now have access to an incredibly powerful 3D data translation solution", stated Ken Tashiro, Vice President and COO, Elysium.

"Furthermore, the solution is very scalable and easy to implement and manage, making this kind of super-strength technology available to even the smallest manufacturer".

"Many of our largest end-users today are running into compute-demand issues whereby secondary platforms and software purchases are required", Tashiro continued.

"With Nexroots grid enabled CADportal, these end-users today can scale compute throughput by simply connecting another CPU and registering the node with the scheduler via the translation control panel".

CADportal has been developed for easy integration into existing infrastructure and rapid deployment.

Once installed, either via hardware appliance or software download, additional compute nodes can typically be installed and running within 15 minutes.

The easily understood interface with CADportal means that administration and use of CADportal can occur very rapidly and with zero training for system administrators or users.

"The use of grid computing technology for Elysiums multi-CAD data translation is a perfect match and avoids the need for expensive, additional servers and new sets of CAD translation tools when usage increases in an enterprise", said Dave Maloy of Nexroot.

"The taxonomy of being able to use spare cycles on users systems within the network means CADportal is infinitely scalable with another simple, 15-minute implementation".

"This solution means that high-end CAD translation is now within reach of smaller manufacturers who simply could not afford the overheads in the past".

CADportal's interface provides intuitive job management, reporting and scheduling tools that make it easy to administer CAD data translation across an organisation.

It supports Windows 2000, XP, HP-UX and Sun Solaris platforms.

An architecture developed with robust data security is built into the solution: secure hypertext transport protocol (https) from end-user to appliance; 3-DES encryption for scheduler/client communications and vault data storage; and enhanced by firewall-compliant architecture featuring a configurable communication port and passive client communication for DMZ deployment.

Nexroot will continue to work exclusively with Elysium to develop and enhance the underlying technology that makes CADportal so powerful.

Elysium will be heading sales and distribution of the solution via its global channel of resellers and partners in North America and Europe.