Today is a big day for Perforce, as we get to officially announce Helix Core Cloud, a brand new managed and hosted version control offering for teams under 50 users.
Over the years, my team and I have developed a number of different ways to help new users get started with our industry leading version control, Helix Core. Now, for the first time, we’re offering Helix Core as a turnkey, fully managed, and hosted solution.
Across industries, teams rely on Helix Core as a scalable, secure, and high-performing foundation for versioning digital assets. Helix Core Cloud lowers the barrier to entry for this powerful tool.
Let’s dive into Helix Core Cloud — what it is, who it’s ideal for, how it works, and more.
What is Helix Core Cloud?
Helix Core Cloud is a turnkey deployment of Helix Core, designed for teams under 50 users and available through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace as a convenient monthly subscription.
When we say turnkey, we mean it. With Helix Core Cloud, simply sign up and select your user count, and within minutes, Perforce automatically deploys a fully configured Helix Core server for you. Perforce then handles ongoing backend server administration, such as updating the OS, performing backups, ongoing monitoring, and updating to the latest version of Helix Core.
Helix Core Cloud is the same industry leading version control trusted by top game studios, VFX houses, semiconductor firms, and other industries pushing the limits of scale — now available for the first time ever as a SaaS offering, hosted and managed by the experts at Perforce. It’s the fastest path to our industry leading version control.
See a Preview of Helix Core Cloud
Learn more about Helix Core Cloud in this fireside chat between Perforce CTOs Brad Hart and Deepak Giridharagopal, hosted by Game Developer.
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Why Did We Build Helix Core Cloud?
As the Director of Product Management at Perforce, I have seen a rapidly growing need for scalable and powerful version control in recent years. Whether your team is building a video game, movie, or digital twin, you are dealing with greater dimensions of scale than ever before. You’re managing massive numbers of very large files, committing thousands to millions of changes to these files across team members who are oftentimes geographically distributed, and so on.
Simply put, anyone dealing with dimensions of scale needs Perforce Helix Core version control.
Helix Core Is a Foundational Tool for Development
Helix Core has been the industry standard version control tool in game development for many years due to its tight integrations with game engines like Unreal Engine, its ability to effortlessly handle massive files, its ironclad security, and its endless scalability. There’s a reason it’s trusted by 19/20 top AAA game development companies.
As more industries have adopted game engines, otherwise known as 3D creation engines, Helix Core has become a foundational tool for any teams who need to create at scale, whether they’re developing virtual film sets, real-time animations for live events, semiconductors, or digital twins of production facilities.
You can learn more about version control and why it’s important in our blog, What is Version Control?, but here's the gist of why Helix Core is an essential tool for developing these kinds of projects:
- It securely stores and tracks every iteration, with immutable history, of every file — and there is a massive number of files involved with working on a game, movie, or digital twin.
- It enables you to collaborate efficiently on digital assets without overwriting work by other team members.
- It gives all team members instant access to the latest version of every file.
- It allows you to version from within your existing tools, like Unreal Engine, Photoshop, Blender, Maya, and more.
Customers Needed Turnkey, Managed, & Hosted Version Control
Over the years, Perforce has developed several cloud deployment options for Helix Core to solve for our customers’ needs. There’s the Enhanced Studio Pack, which makes it easy for teams to get up and running in either AWS or Azure with a pre-configured Helix Core server that they maintain. We also created Helix Remote Administration for teams who wanted to deploy Helix Core on their own cloud, but who wanted to offload ongoing server maintenance to us. We’ve also partnered with Assembla to give large teams a hosted and managed option.
But there was still a need for a turnkey, expertly managed, and hosted option for small to mid-sized teams. Many of these kinds of teams needed an easy way to get a Helix Core server up and running fast using best practice recommendations. They also needed an option that eliminates the need for ongoing server administration.
Helix Core is an extremely powerful tool, and for that reason, it can be complex to set up. Small to mid-size teams often don’t have the bandwidth for a dedicated server admin — meaning they don’t have someone who can configure Helix Core with the right settings for their organization, monitor system performance, ensure regular backups are happening, and perform other server administration.
For teams under 50 users, Helix Core Cloud solves these roadblocks.
Back to topHow Does Helix Core Cloud Work?
Getting started with Helix Core Cloud is simple. It’s available as a monthly subscription. Just sign up through the Azure Marketplace listing, select your seat count, and go. In about 10 minutes, your expertly pre-configured Helix Core server will be online.
At that point, anyone who is new to Helix Core can follow the tutorial video in the Helix Core Cloud customer portal that covers the fundamentals of getting started, like setting up your typemap, creating a depot, creating streams (branches), adding files, and more.
Who Should Use Helix Core Cloud for Source Control?
Any teams who develop large digital assets for things like movies and games need Helix Core. Other version control systems aren’t able to scale and handle the massive amount of data involved in these kinds of projects.
Some examples of the types of teams who should use Helix Core Cloud include:
- Small or medium-sized teams who need version control for binary files like art files.
- Teams who work with game engines like Unreal or Unity.
- Teams looking for granular security options including down to the individual file level.
- Anyone developing a game, virtual sets for film, digital twins, or any other project that involves working with a lot of large files.
If you’re deciding the best way to deploy Helix Core for your team, you can compare Helix Core plans here.
In a nutshell, Helix Core Cloud is ideal for customers who need:
- Seats for up to 50 users.
- Ease of use and cloud deployment.
- Flexible licensing and a monthly payment option.
(Just note that Helix Core Cloud is best for those who are not currently Helix Core customers. If you’re a current customer and are interested in migrating to Helix Core Cloud, reach out to your account manager to discuss options.)
Back to topTop Benefits of Helix Core Cloud
The number one benefit of Helix Core Cloud is that it is scalable, enterprise-grade version control, made simple. Again, it is the same version control system trusted across industries, now available as a managed and hosted cloud offering. By removing the need for customers to configure and perform ongoing administration of their server — something most smaller teams simply don’t have the bandwidth to do — Helix Core Cloud lowers the barrier to entry for teams who need powerful version control.
Here are some more specifics on the top benefits of Helix Core Cloud:
Launch with Expertly Pre-Configured Settings
Your Helix Core Cloud server will be launched with pre-configured settings that we have set according to applied best practices. There is zero need to configure your own server. Just sign up, pick your seat count, and go.
No Server Administration Needed
Perforce handles all backend server administration, such as updating the OS, performing backups, and updating to the latest version of Helix Core.
Professional-Grade Reliability
Say goodbye to unplanned downtime. Helix Core Cloud is backed by automated monitoring and alerts that are handled by Perforce.
No Fuss Scalability
Easily add and remove users and purchase additional storage (your base subscription comes with 64 GiB included). Your server will scale up and down automatically as you change user counts.
Automatic Updates
Perforce will upgrade your Helix Core server automatically so you can take advantage of the latest features and updates. This includes both major and minor version upgrades.
Easily Check Usage Metrics
The Metrics page of your Helix Core Cloud customer portal lets you easily keep tabs on storage usage, monthly egress, and current users vs. available seats so you can see how you’re trending and avoid scenarios like egress overages (you get 64 GiB of monthly egress included in your base plan) or running out of available disk space.
At Perforce, we know that just because your teams may be small, it does not mean the things you’re creating or the challenges you’re facing are. We are so excited that this solution is now available to help smaller teams accelerate development and push the limit on innovation. We can’t wait for you to get started and to give us feedback on your experience so we can shape the future roadmap of Helix Core Cloud together.
Back to topLaunch Managed and Hosted Version Control by Perforce, Fast
Ready to get started with the world’s most scalable version control? Launch Helix Core Cloud quickly via the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.
You can learn more about Helix Core Cloud here. Feel free to contact us with any questions.