Cloud Computing: Is It the Right Solution for Your Business?

Cloud computing has been around since 1996, or at least the term has, according to some sources (though its origins are still hotly debated). Over the past decade, it has become a staple of the technology and software industries. You can in fact get NX Nastran through the cloud today through our partner, Rescale, and now we are expanding the simulation solutions available to you through Rescale’s on-demand cloud to include thermal and fluid flow analysis.

But how do you know if cloud computing is right for your business? What are the service options and benefits? If these are the questions you find yourself asking, you have come to the right place. First, let’s look at some analysis trends that make simulation in the cloud a necessity.

Simulation plays a critical role in product design and development; it helps to predict and detect issues long before they physically manifest in the products your company creates. Simulation makes for more innovative, robust products, but it is not without its challenges. As technology advances, products are becoming more complex. This increased complexity along with a push for higher fidelity models leads to larger model sizes that require longer solve times.

Now consider that you rely on those simulation results to make important design decisions. You have to produce a better product faster than your competitors in order to stay on top. This means you need results fast. While parallel processing on a high performance computing (HPC) cluster can speed solution times, the hardware can be expensive. Your company may not have the necessary resources to purchase and maintain HPC hardware. So what do you do?

This is where cloud computing comes in. With Rescale’s on-demand cloud, you have the ability to rent hardware capacity on a price-per-core per-hour basis whenever you need it. This allows you to decrease solution times, so you get the results you need to make critical design decisions faster. Better still, it is a more cost effective solution that requires little effort on your part.

In a traditional IT model, you would be required to manage your software, middleware, infrastructure and the IT staff necessary to support it. With Nastran on the cloud, however, Rescale manages everything for you.All you have to do is bring your existing NX Nastran licenses. This is called BYOL or bring your own license. But what if you don’t have enough NX Nastran licenses, or any at all?

Not a problem! This is where SaaS, or software as a service, becomes useful. Rescale offers you the ability to rent NX Nastran licenses in addition to hardware, so you can meet your simulation demands. This model is best if you have only a temporary increase in simulation demands or if you don’t expect to use NX Nastran continuously. With a SaaS model, Rescale manages everything. You need only enter the analyses you wish to run, which can be done in a matter of minutes from a web browser.

Now that we’ve reviewed both offerings, let’s recap and compare the benefits of each:

BYOL – Platform as a Service

• • • Flexible – With BYOL, you have the option to run your own solver licenses either locally or remotely on Rescale.

• • • Lower long term costs– Perpetual licenses with maintenance are less expensive in the long run.

• • • On-demand access to HPC – You don’t have to invest in hardware and maintenance. You get immediate access to HPC whenever you need it.

SaaS – Software as a Service

• • • Lower up-front costs – The pay as you go model means you will spend less up front.

• • • Lower cost for infrequent usage – This model is more cost effective for temporary increases in simulation demands. If you won’t have a consistent need for software and hardware, this is your best option.

• • • Operating expense – SaaS usage is an operating expense, which has accounting advantages.

No matter which option you choose to meet your company’s needs, you’ll get the benefit of the industry’s leading FEA solver for computational performance, accuracy, reliability and scalability. Take advantage of faster solve times with a more cost-effective solution that requires little to no management! NX Nastran has solutions for stress, vibration, structural failure, heat transfer, acoustics, and aeroelasticity, and as an industry standard for more than 40 years, it is a solution you know you can trust.

To learn more, be sure to check out the video. You can also learn more when you attend the free webinar Accelerate the Process of Engineering Design with NX Thermal/Flow on Rescale on Wednesday, October 28 at 11 a.m. Eastern / 8 a.m. Pacific. Register today!