Why Cloud CAD is Faster than Desktop

TL;DR: Onshape, PTC’s cloud-based CAD and PDM platform, delivers superior performance compared to traditional desktop CAD systems by leveraging AWS cloud infrastructure for unlimited computing power, parallel processing, and seamless collaboration. With no installation, file management, or save operations, designers can access their 3D models from any device, never lose work, and complete projects faster than with desktop-installed CAD.

When it comes to product design, speed matters. Nobody has ever said, "My CAD system is fast enough!" The difference between a good and great product design experience often comes down to performance.

That's why Onshape – the PTC’s cloud-based CAD software that runs entirely in the cloud – is designed from the ground up to outperform your desktop-installed CAD and PDM systems. In the cloud vs. desktop debate, the cloud advantage is clear.

That's a very bold statement, so let me explain how we achieve this, starting with our technology foundation.

The Cloud CAD Advantage: How Onshape Leverages AWS 

As a leader in 3D CAD online solutions, Onshape uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for our cloud computing infrastructure, and we've just strengthened this relationship through a new Strategic Collaboration Agreement. AWS gives our cloud CAD software a world-class infrastructure with security, high availability, and a global network of data centers connected by high-speed networks. The core of AWS is their "Elastic Compute Cloud" (EC2) service, which gives us a virtually limitless supply of computing resources.

Infrastructure That Scales

Think of it like a highway that keeps getting wider as traffic increases. Need 100 lanes? We'll keep expanding the highway as needed, and we do it in minutes. Our architecture allows us to scale up to handle whatever workloads we need to process.

Parallel Processing Revolution

The Onshape cloud vs. desktop difference becomes clear when considering parallel processing. The Onshape platform is broken up into many services working together to deliver a single CAD and data management experience. Each service runs on a pool of machines all running exactly the same software. Unlike file-based CAD where you can only do one thing at a time, our automation continuously manages this pool of resources so none of our customers need to wait.

In many cases, we can divide up the work for a single customer and parallelize it across many machines. This is more than just the equivalent of a multi-core CPU running on a desktop computer. This parallelism fundamentally changes the way CAD operations are computed, managed, and used – substantially reducing the time it takes to do many compute-intensive tasks in our 3D CAD software online solution.

Real-World Performance Benefits

High Availability and Reliability

Getting your work done faster isn't only about raw speed. Even if you can drive at 100 mph on much of your trip, but then spend the rest of it sitting in traffic, your overall throughput suffers. That's why we designed our cloud CAD software for high availability. This means there are many servers all doing the same job. If one machine fails, another identical machine will instantly pick up the slack.

Does Onshape crash? Yes, while we do our best to prevent crashes, this can happen on rare occasions. However, because of our infrastructure, you may not even notice. One thing's for sure: You won't lose any data and you can pick up exactly where you left off within seconds.

Instant Access, Any Device

One of my favorite things about Onshape is how it frees you from hardware constraints. You can run it on Mac, PC, Linux, Chromebook, or even tablets and phones through our mobile apps. This works because all the heavy lifting happens in the cloud – we only send the graphics to your device. For smaller projects, even an inexpensive Chromebook performs great. For larger assemblies, you'll want a decent graphics card and enough RAM for your browser, but that's about it.

No More File Management Overhead

Let's talk about one of the biggest time-wasters in desktop CAD: file management. Opening and saving files is a huge time-killer. Large assemblies can take several minutes to check out of PDM, copy locally, and open. It takes even longer to save and check back in.

Onshape completely eliminates this overhead. We use a highly performant database architecture that records every design change as it happens. There's no save button and no waiting for save operations. Every change is saved and replicated across multiple data centers in milliseconds. Multiple people can work on the same design simultaneously, and we track every change with a name and timestamp. You get an unlimited undo/redo capability, and you never have to worry about losing work.

The Bottom Line: Time Savings That Matter

Sure, some individual operations might be faster in desktop CAD. But that's not what matters. When you add up all the time spent on software downloads, installations, service packs, copying, saving, locking, searching for and emailing files, software compatibility, crashes, and countless other desktop CAD fallouts, you'll finish your time-critical projects considerably faster in Onshape.

Leading companies like Trek Bikes and Aura Aero have already discovered this. They're using Onshape to speed up their product development and improve team collaboration. 

Want to see the difference yourself? Through our new Discovery Program, qualified users can try Onshape Professional free for up to six months. It's the best way to experience the speed and collaboration benefits of cloud-based CAD software firsthand.