Track SOLIDWORKS PDM Data with CacheMeter

Tracking SOLIDWORKS PDM Data

I have a favorite kind of cookie. For anybody wondering, it’s Oreo’s because of course it is. That said, I’m not necessarily a fan of sharing my Oreos. Sometimes, sure, but not all the time. I know how many servings are in a package and I also don’t just lose random cookies. So if someone takes an Oreo, thinking I won’t know, trust me, I’ll know. I can say the same thing about my data. I know which files I have and I know who should be working on them. Generally, I can keep track of who has what. But this is different from just cookies, this is my intellectual property! It’s important that we track our SOLIDWORKS PDM data and know who is consuming it and how much data they consume on a regular basis.

It’s important for any company to be aware of what is happening with your intellectual property. You used to monitor how many copies someone was making in the copy room. But, in the world of PDM, it’s crucial to know how many files a user is downloading to their local hard drive at any one time.  Sadly, PDM doesn’t have any way of tracking this right out of the box and some people may be hesitant to move to a system that lacks an internal auditing system. That’s why InFlow introduced CacheMeter.

What is CacheMeter?

CacheMeter is an add-in for SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. It lets you set limits for how many files a user can download in a set time period of either 12 or 24 hours. The tool monitors who is getting files and how many files the user is downloading. As a result, if a user exceeds their limit, they won’t be able to download any additional files. Additionally, you can send an email notification if a user attempts to exceed their limit.

This is perfect for a company that works with sensitive files and wants to know exactly how many files their users are working with at any given time. Similarly, it would be great for the company that simply wants to have peace of mind with knowing how much of their data is consumed.

Wait, a limit?

Don’t worry, nothing official happens if you exceed it, just a warning message. We send the user a message informing them they have hit their limit and to contact the administrator if this is a mistake. Best case scenario – John was working with a large assembly earlier and that bloated his download count for the day. If that happens, the administrator can change the group limits to let John get back to work.

But would you break the rules if you know you’re being watched? Probably not. That’s why you install CacheMeter on the server only. Hopefully, users will never know there’s a limit unless they’re told.

Easy to implement

Setup of CacheMeter is quick and easy. Simply connect to your SQL database and set download limits for user groups. Now these limits aren’t necessarily a hard limit. You can also give users an unlimited download limit so they can download however many files they want. These limits aren’t based on individual users or folders, they’re group based. What this means for you is no long setup or installation. It’s easy and, with just a few clicks, your data is more secure.

Why CacheMeter for tracking SOLIDWORKS PDM data?

While PDM is a great tool for managing documents, tracking SOLIDWORKS PDM data is tricky regarding to internal users. Nobody from the outside can get in, but, like the vast majority of programs out there, that doesn’t stop a user that’s on the inside. Granted, you can limit what users users can access, but that could be thousands of files. CacheMeter addresses those issues, letting you know how many files each user is consuming.

Now that I think about it, maybe I could use something like this for my Oreo’s…

***Jeff Sweeney and I sat down to talk about PDM vault security on InPOD. We cover base PDM security, CacheMeter, and Curtain e-Locker. Check it out for a more in depth discussion!***