Video Transcript
Welcome to a full walkthrough of Adept Server's system requirements for the Spring '26 on-premises release. We'll go role by role — Single-Server, Native Server, File System, Web Server, Database, FTP, and SSL — covering hardware specs, software dependencies, and disk planning for each. By the end, an IT team should be able to walk straight into a hardware procurement or deployment planning conversation with almost nothing left to look up.
Four ground rules apply regardless of how you deploy Adept. Virtualization is fully supported as long as virtual hardware meets or exceeds stated requirements, but Adept Server should never share a machine with Microsoft Exchange Server or any Domain Controller — primary or backup — since these roles compete for the same resources. Keep your Adept Server software and SQL Database Engine on the same local network segment, or you risk real performance degradation. And don't underestimate CPU — both Adept Servers and the SQL Database Engine take genuine advantage of multi-core, hyper-threaded processors.
One of the most common planning mistakes is putting Adept data on the same partition as the operating system. Synergis recommends a separate logical partition: roughly 100 gigabytes for the OS and roughly 150 gigabytes for Adept components — excluding vaulted data, which is a separate and often much larger storage consideration. On top of your initial sizing, budget for 20 to 25 percent annual growth, and reach out to your Synergis Customer Success Manager if you need a tailored recommendation for your environment.
Adept supports two deployment topologies with different resourcing implications. The Single-Server Environment — the most common choice — runs Native Server, File System, and Web Server all on one machine, but hardware requirements become cumulative across those combined roles. The Multi-Server Environment splits Adept Servers and the database engine across separate machines, which can simplify scaling but introduces a firm requirement for high-speed connectivity between tiers, since Adept moves a high volume of transactions between the application and database layers.
For an all-in-one deployment, the minimum processor is 3-gigahertz-plus with 8 or more cores — recommended is 12 or more cores at the same clock speed — paired with 64 gigabytes of memory and 20 gigabytes of installation disk space, plus storage for your document load and growth. Synergis recommends an NVIDIA Tesla T4 GPU with certified enterprise drivers to offload rendering and significantly reduce CPU load for Reviewer and Explorer users. On the software side, you need Windows Server 2019, 2022, or 2025, IIS with Application Request Routing and Rewrite extensions, .NET Framework 4.8, the Visual C++ Redistributable, and the ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle — and note that these figures exclude the database engine, which adds its own requirements if co-located on this machine.
The Adept Native Server handles transactions and typically hosts your Adept Vaults, with a lighter hardware profile than the single-server configuration. Minimum is a 2.5-gigahertz processor with 4 or more cores — recommended is 3-gigahertz at the same core count — with 32 gigabytes of memory and 3 gigabytes for the installation itself, plus storage for your initial document load and planned growth. The software stack is lean: Windows Server 2019, 2022, or 2025 with current patches, .NET Framework 4.8, and the Visual C++ Redistributable — no IIS required here, as that belongs to the Web Server role.
These requirements apply specifically when running the Adept File System Server separately from the Native Server — most commonly as an AFS Satellite Server at a remote office. Processor requirements match the Native Server tier: 2.5-gigahertz minimum, 3-gigahertz recommended, both with 4 or more cores. Memory is 8 gigabytes standard, scaling to 16 gigabytes for large systems defined as more than 50 concurrent users or multiple remote sites, with just 1 gigabyte needed for the installation plus your usual document-load and growth allowance. The software stack mirrors the Native Server: Windows Server, .NET Framework 4.8, and the Visual C++ Redistributable.
The Web Server is where browser-based, mobile, Reviewer, and Explorer users connect, giving it the heaviest hardware profile of the application-tier servers. Processor matches the Native Server tier — 2.5 to 3-plus gigahertz with 4 or more cores — with 32 gigabytes of memory standard, jumping to 48 gigabytes for high-utilization systems with more than 50 concurrent users, multiple remote sites, or heavy Adept Viewer use. An NVIDIA Tesla T4 GPU is strongly recommended to offload rendering and significantly cut CPU load for document viewers, and the software stack adds IIS with Application Request Routing and Rewrite extensions plus the ASP.NET Core Hosting Bundle on top of the standard Windows Server, .NET Framework, and Visual C++ requirements.
Beyond the core platform stack, the Web Server requires specific third-party applications for server-side rendering of certain file types in Reviewer and Explorer. Word and Excel files require Microsoft Word and Excel under an active Microsoft 365 subscription — Office LTSC isn't actively tested but is expected to work. For Inventor IDW files, you need Autodesk Inventor Professional 2026 running unlicensed in read-only mode plus Inventor Apprentice Server 2026, which is a new requirement for this release: both components must be installed separately and together to render IDW documents. SOLIDWORKS drawing files require eDrawings Publisher for SOLIDWORKS 2025 from Dassault Systèmes — if your organization doesn't use Inventor or SOLIDWORKS, those two can be skipped entirely.
Adept supports Microsoft SQL Server 2017, 2019, and 2022, as well as SQL Server Express editions in that same range — though Express is limited to small or LAN-only deployments and is capped at the manufacturer's 10 gigabyte database limit, so plan to upgrade to full SQL Server if your database is likely to grow beyond that ceiling. Oracle Database 19c is also supported. Any supported engine can be installed on any compatible operating system the manufacturer allows, and all engines require the latest service packs and hotfixes — the choice between SQL Server and Oracle typically comes down to what your organization already standardizes on and licenses.
FTP Server requirements are the shortest section in this documentation, and that's intentional — Synergis doesn't set specific hardware requirements for FTP Servers, deferring instead to the documentation for whichever FTP software you choose. More importantly, FTP software is only required for existing systems that already have FTP Vaults configured; both new and existing customers are strongly encouraged to use AFS vaults instead, which is the modern recommended path. If you do still run FTP Vaults, supported software includes FileZilla Server, CuteFTP Server, ServU Server, and Microsoft IIS FTP Services — with FileZilla and IIS FTP also supporting secure FTPS vaults. If you're planning a new deployment, this page most likely doesn't apply to you.
Synergis strongly recommends applying an SSL certificate to every Production Adept Web Server, and it becomes a hard requirement if your organization licenses Adept Creator or if the system is accessible from the public internet. Certificates must come from a trusted commercial Certificate Authority or your organization's internal CA — public, private, or wildcard certificates are all acceptable, but self-signed certificates are not supported. SSL can also be applied to the Native Server, File System Server, and PublishWave Servers, and Synergis strongly recommends securing all of these if any web server is internet-facing. Two technical requirements to get right upfront: the private key must be installed as an exportable private key, and the Subject Alternative Name must include the server's fully qualified domain name plus any alias names used to access Adept.
The Native Server stores configurations that should be backed up regularly on a schedule matching your organization's risk tolerance, along with log files and temporary files that need monitoring but not backup. The File Server carries the same configuration and log considerations, plus the critical addition of vaulted documents — including every historical version — which is your actual document repository and absolutely must be part of your backup strategy. The size of that vaulted document store depends entirely on how your organization uses the system, so backup timing and retention should be driven by your own business needs rather than any generic default.
The Web Server holds configurations and log files alongside three cache-heavy categories: Full Text Search cache data, PDF Mobile Markups for mobile users, and Native and PDF documents plus stream data for Explorer and Reviewer viewer caches. If your teams view Inventor IDW or SOLIDWORKS SLDDRW files, budget generously for caching disk space — the documentation flags these formats as requiring significant storage. On the Database Server side, beyond configurations and logs you have the Active Database, an optional Archive Database for exported Audit Trail records, and SQL Transaction Logs for all Adept databases — those transaction logs can grow very large and require regular maintenance, which Synergis Customer Success can help you plan.
Four details from the documentation deserve a final callout before wrapping up. Backup cadence is defined by your organization's own business needs and risk profile — not a generic schedule. The Archive Database is optional, existing solely to store Audit Trail records an administrator has deliberately exported from the live database to retain compliance history without growing the active system. SQL Transaction Logs need routine maintenance or they can cause real storage problems, and Synergis Customer Success can assist with setting up a maintenance plan. And viewing Inventor IDW or SOLIDWORKS SLDDRW files requires significant caching space on the Web Server — build that into your storage plan upfront if those formats are active in your workflow.
We've now covered every page under Adept Server Overall Requirements: general deployment guidance, disk layout, topology choices, and detailed hardware and software specs for every server role, plus what each role stores and what needs backing up. The honest reality from the documentation is that many of these numbers — especially vaulted document storage and cache sizes — can't be estimated in general terms, because they depend on how your organization actually uses the system day to day. The best next step is to reach out to your Synergis Customer Success Manager with your user counts, document volume, file types, database engine preference, and growth expectations, and they'll turn this general guidance into a concrete, tailored sizing plan.
