Making transfer of AutoCAD DWG files faster over WAN.

Due to the internal compression of DWG files introduced in AutoCAD 2007, 2008 and 2009 larger
DWG drawings may transfer more slowly over WAN network connections. This is because the commonly
used WAN accelerators (e.g. Riverbed Steelhead) use deduplication methods to optimize the transferred
data - the unchanged portions of the files (since the last version) are not transmitted again. But when you
use an internal compression, any single edit will change the contents of the whole file and the file has to
be always transferred completely.

Autodesk has released the "WAN acceleration hotfix", which introduces an option to change the internal
DWG compression so that WAN accelerators can employ their deduplication methods and make the file
transfer faster.

To really switch the format after you install the hotfix you have to set the environment variable (in
Windows) ACADCOMPRESSIONMODE to 1 (see My computer > Properties > Advanced >
Environment variables > New). At the same time you should set the variable ISAVEPERCENT to a larger
number (to 100) and use the QSAVE (Ctrl+S) command for saving drawings. DWG drawings are
mutually compatible.

You can download the WAN hotfix for all Autodesk CAD application based on AutoCAD 2007, 2008 and
2009:

 WAN hotfix for the AutoCAD 2009 family

 WAN hotfix for the AutoCAD 2008 family
 WAN hotfix for the AutoCAD 2007 family

These settings are not needed anymore for AutoCAD 2010 and higher.