Intralink 9.1 vs. PDMLink 9.1

[mdristy]

What are some of tha major pros/cons of using Intralink 9.1 vs. PDMLink 9.1?


I am currently at Intralink 3.4 M062 and am thinking of migrating up.


Is it true that if you use PDMLink you have to put your Pro/E files (file vaults)on a third party server over the Internet??


Thanks.

 

[mardeb]

Not sure about the Pros / Cons of Intralink vs PDMLink, but I do know that you do NOT have to store your Pro/E files on a third party server.


You can store everything on internal servers. There are service providers that will host your PDMLink installation for you, but that is a completely optional and separate issue.

 

[looslib]

PDMLink9.1 has workflows and is more user customizable than Intralink9.1.


Intrlink is just like it has always been, CAD vaulting.


PDMLink is full PLM with workflows. Incident reports, problem reports, ECRs, ECNs, etc can all be configured and worked within PDMLink.

 

[KeithC]

If all you need is a CAD vault, then stick it Intralink as it is much simpler to use.


however if you need a full PLM system then PDMLink is ok, but it does have a lot of infuriating niggles, and people who dont use it very often get very confused...

 

[amansfield]

If you migrate over to either Intralink 9 or PDMLink 9, please remember that these productsARE NOT Intralink: they are Windchill.


We're on our 9th week after switching over to Intralink 9.1 and for the most part, most of our users hate it. The web interface is clunky and a big step backwards from Ilink 3.4 in terms of performance, ease of use and simplicity. A number of the capabilities of 3.4 are lost, and others are much more convoluted to use.


The hardware requirements are much greater than 3.4: we had to upgrade our server (2X more RAM + 15k RPM drives) in the middle of our migration project to make it perform close to the previous system.


Implementation can be done by your own people if they are sharp and are prepared to spend aLONG time testing out the system. If you want help, prepare to spend lots of $$. If you get PTC services involved, be prepared to spend even more: some of the quotes I got for doing the migration were absolutely outrageous.


The biggest problem with calling it "Intralink" is that it's a completely different product that's extremely complex to set up. The access controls alone are mind-bending.., the user interface completely different, the terminology different and ultimately what it was designed to do is different. It was never meant to just manage Pro/E data otherwise it would be a lot simpler.


We decided to switch due to the fact that Ilink 3.4 has been unsupported since mid-summer and we wanted move to Wildfire 5 some day. In retrospect we may have been better off staying with 3.4 for a while longer since PTC has been trying to add functionality to match that of Ilink 3.4. 9.1 is close, but still no cigar.


Good Luck..

 

[joebarnes]

amansfield,
What were the specs of your server before and after the upgrade?
How many Files in the vault?
How much space used by the file vault?
How many users?
How many method servers?
Did you have a background method server configured?

Any perspective you can give would be appreciated

We are about 3/4 of the way down the path to migration. Everything up to this point has been on test equipment. We are just about to purchase the new server and head down the final stretch (2-3 months) I hope I have a little overkill in the server.

We are choosing to keep the access controls as simple as possible. It wasn't easy. I have tried several scenarios. I now have it close to what we had in 3.4. I only had to add 2 access control policies at the Default/PDM Organization level.

Libraries have a Library manager and all users have guest access.
Products( organized by division) have a product manager, a Design engineer role for create and modify and non-division users have guest access.
I have tried to keep it as much OOTB as possible. Probably not what PTC recommends.


Joe

 

[looslib]

Servers for Winchill apps are configured differently than anything your IT department would recommend! My comments are based on using a Windows OS. Unix servers require different thinking. The CPU and memory are for the Application server. Your DB server can just about be any current dual-core machine with 4-8GB of memory and minimal disk for Oracle.


CPU: Depending on number of users and method servers required to support them. In a PTC presentation a 4 CPU system is not the same as a quad-core CPU! In fact they said each core in a quad-core chip is only rated at 60% of a single CPU. Do you need 4 CPU's or 2.4 CPU's? My recommendation for a 50 user environment would be 4 dual-core CPU's.


Memoey: STUFF IT! 16GB's would be minimum for the 50 user system. Your method servers are running JAVA code and the allocate their memory at startup. You will be hampered by the Windows 2GB per process limitation, but you can set the method servers to allocate about 1.44GB max memory. And set the min and max equal!


Vault storage is irrelevant! You can put the vaults anyplace on your network. I had them on an EMC Clarion file server. Just get the space you need allocated and reserved. Be careful when doing the install to NOT put CAD data into Oracle BLOBS. It will grow and kill your DB server disk space.


For those coming from an Intralink 3.x system, 9.x is a lot more complicated in setup, resources and maintenance. I used to get asked why I was doing some task or other all the time and my reply was that users weren't doing it themselves. The biggest task was putting files in folders in your products and libraries. Limit acces to the libraries. By default, new files are checked-in to the root folder of a product. You don't want that! The performance of your workspace is affected by the number of files it has to display.


Have fun and don't pull your hair out. Windchill will still haunt you next week, but your hair won't grow back.


My caveat is I was an administrator for PDMLink7 at 2 companies and was only in the upgrade planning stages to 9.1 when I changed jobs. Some of this may have been addressed by newer code.

 

[red-arete]

Very interesting guys.
I am going to start another thread about options outside of Windchill.
I have been a big fan of Intralink & I think it's a shame that it's going.

One of the issues that gets over looked is that a lot of firms have invested a heavily in other ERP systems and document control and Ilink just sat neatly inbetween simply doing its job. Now we have a system with a lot of redundant features at more cost to do the same job.

Good luck if you go the Windchill route, looking forward to hearing how it goes.

 

[wamarler]

A number of the capabilities of 3.4 are lost.

Which ones specifically? I haven't actually encountered this.

Although I won't argue with any of the other points... one person can go from "generic IT guy" to a "Production-ready Pro/INTRALINK 3.4 system administrator" in ... oh I dunno, 2-3 weeks. But Windchill... forgetaboutit. The leap from 3.4 to 8.x (and 9.0, 9.1) is mind-boggling, and the prices PTC will quote you to come out and do the work are because ... well, that's what others will pay.

 

[looslib]

I am back in a PTC environment running Wildfire 3 and PDMLink 9.0. My first task is to upgrade to Wildfire 4 and then Windchill 9.1.