CADViewer Server Converter Requirements

The AutoXchange conversion engine is a 64-bit command-line application available for Windows and Linux. Server requirements are primarily driven by two factors: the size of the input DWG file and the complexity of the drawing content.

Core Drivers

Driver	Impact
File size (MB)	RAM usage, I/O throughput
Drawing complexity	CPU time, peak RAM spikes
Cache policy	Storage requirements

Complexity factors include: nested/external block references (XREFs), dense hatch patterns, many layers and linetypes, and embedded raster images. More complex drawings require significantly more time and memory to process, even at the same file size.

Server Tiers by File Size

🟢 Small — DWG files under 1 MB

Typical content: Simple 2D floor plans, schematics, minimal blocks.

Resource	Specification
CPU	4 cores, 3.0+ GHz
RAM	8 GB
Concurrent conversions	4–8
Per-job timeout	15–30 seconds

🟡 Medium — DWG files 1–20 MB

Typical content: Mixed 2D drawings, moderate XREF usage, some hatching.

Resource	Specification
CPU	8 cores, 3.5+ GHz
RAM	16–32 GB
Concurrent conversions	4–8
Per-job timeout	60–120 seconds

🔴 Large — DWG files over 20 MB (Very large: approaching 100 MB)

Typical content: Detailed 2D drawings, deep block nesting, extensive hatching, many XREFs, embedded raster images.

Resource	Specification
CPU	16+ cores, 3.5+ GHz
RAM	64–128 GB (recommended); less is viable — see note below
Concurrent conversions	2–4 (throttle to prevent excessive disk cache use under concurrent load)
Per-job timeout	300–600 seconds

Memory vs. Speed tradeoff: When available RAM is insufficient to hold the full drawing in memory, AutoXchange will automatically fall back to using a disk-based cache on the server. Conversion will still complete successfully, but at a significantly reduced speed. This means users can operate with less RAM than the recommended amount — the tradeoff is longer conversion times. For latency-sensitive applications, provisioning adequate RAM is strongly recommended. For batch or background processing, a lower-RAM configuration with disk cache is acceptable.

Storage

Storage requirements are directly determined by the user’s cache policy and are not fixed. There is no mandatory minimum beyond the OS and application baseline (~20 GB).

Cache Policy	Storage Formula
No cache (convert on demand only)	`2–3 × max_concurrent_jobs × avg_file_size` for temp scratch space + OS baseline
Partial cache (retain last N drawings)	`N × avg_output_size_per_drawing` + OS baseline
Full cache (retain all converted outputs)	`total_drawing_count × avg_output_size_per_drawing` + OS baseline

Output size note: Converted SVG/PNG output is typically 1–5× the source DWG size depending on geometry density and output format.

Recommendation: Always locate temp/scratch directories on NVMe storage. Avoid network-mapped paths for temp directories, as heavy I/O during conversion will bottleneck on network latency.

General Notes

Peak RAM during conversion is approximately 10–20× the raw DWG file size. A 50 MB DWG may consume 500 MB–1 GB of RAM at peak. If RAM is insufficient, AutoXchange falls back to a server-side disk cache — conversion completes, but more slowly.
CPU single-thread performance (clock speed) drives individual job speed. AutoXchange conversion is largely single-threaded per job.
CPU core count determines how many jobs can run concurrently.
Always cap max-concurrent-jobs based on available RAM, not CPU core count, to prevent out-of-memory failures on large or complex files.
On Windows, ensure the required Visual C++ Redistributables and system fonts are installed.
On Linux, ensure required shared libraries (e.g. libstdc++, libfontconfig) are present.

Last updated on 3 Sep 2026
Published on 3 Sep 2026