Managed Pro server changes

This is an announcement for all SonoAnalyzer Pro beta testers. First, thanks to all of you for your support and feedback. I've learnt a lot from it, including two things that are particularly relevant to this announcement:

  1. Offering managed FEA servers is a popular option, allowing users to take full advantage of the more complex Pro models without the need to install additional software on the local PC. Effectively using Pro becomes as simple as using OE.
  2. The system used up to now for offering managed FEA servers just isn't adequate. In particular the postprocessor connection is unreliable, making it difficult to view stress plots and other results, a key advantage of the Pro version. This is mainly a result of the setup - on a single server shared between all users there's a need for authentication to prevent each user from viewing others' results.

So in the run-up to the release of SonoAnalyzer Pro the managed FEA server system is to be updated. After the update, all managed servers will be dedicated to one client only. With only one user able to connect and the video tunnelled through industry-standard SSL-secured connection, no further authentication is required. Financially the one-server-per-client model is made possible by the use of cloud-based systems (virtual machines) that can be started automatically on demand and shut down when not in use.

SonoAnalyzer Pro clients:

Your early-bird purchase of SonoAnalyzer Pro entitles you to online access and updates for a year after the release of the full version. In anticipation of that (due within the next few days) all current Pro licenses are now set to expire 28 Feb 2016. The license includes up to 4000 hours of FEA-server time over the year (more details on this to be published shortly). Access to these servers is already set up and any files present in client accounts on the current server have been copied to the new servers. For the initial rollout all cloud servers are small (512MB ram) and located in New York. Although 512MB doesn't seem like much, these servers are easily capable of analyzing stacks of four or more half-wavelength components at standard mesh size. For clients who want to run more demanding analyses or have the server located closer to themselves, please open a ticket to request changes. It's intended that these options will be available through SonoAnalyzer itself in future versions but for now the changes will be made manually.

From the client-side the only requirement is that on next use of SonoAnalyzer Pro the current managed server setup must be deleted to make way for the new one. To do this, from the menu choose "Pro" -> "FEA server(s)" and in the dialog box that opens, select the tab labelled "Demo server A (EU) and close the tab by clicking the red X. Once this is done, choose "File" -> "Update" -> "Update managed pro server(s)" (or just restart SonoAnalyzer) and the new server details will be setup automatically.

Delete FEA server by closing its tab

Please do this when you next run SonoAnalyzer as your files have already been copied to the new servers. If you continue using the old server, please advise when you've finished using it so the files can be synchronised again. After 13 February you will find that SonoAnalyzer Pro is unable to connect to the old server.

SonoAnalyzer OE / PAYG clients participating in the Pro beta trial:

With the imminent release of the full SonoAnalyzer Pro, the current version 1.5.2 will be the last beta available. When this expires on 13 February 2015 the beta trial will be closed. Thanks for your participation, and if you wish to continue using Pro beta and the current FEA server until that date you are welcome to do so. Or if you'd like to upgrade to Pro, look out for special offers on its release, very soon.

If you've used the current FEA server and have analysis files stored on it, they will be archived and made available to you on request, or transferred to a new cloud server should you choose to upgrade. In either case just open a support ticket (from the user account used to purchase SonoAnalyzer) and let me know what you'd like to do.

Again, thanks to all clients for your support through the long development process of SonoAnalyzer Pro. Look out for new release announcements very soon!