TL;DR: Winner Design network deployment requires a dedicated server with 1 Gbit/s bandwidth, wired network only, and UNC file paths. Optionally configure a centralized render server to offload CPU-intensive rendering tasks from workstations.
Network Setup
Winner Design is kitchen planning CAD software that can be deployed across networked workstations. A centralized server installation is mandatory; peer-to-peer networks are not supported [1].
Installation process: Run the Winner Design installer on the dedicated server, selecting a local drive for the installation path. On each client PC, navigate to the server’s Winner folder (via UNC path like \\Servername\Applications\Winner) and run lansetup.exe as administrator. After restarting all connected PCs, start Winner Design on a single PC first—this prepares system catalogues that all workstations will then share [1].
Licensing: Each client PC requires a separate USB dongle or activation code [1].
Network Requirements
All network hardware must support at least 1 Gbit/s bandwidth—including cables, routers, and switches [2]. Wireless networks are unsupported; Compusoft advises against any Wi-Fi deployments [2].
Linux servers (Samba, Red Hat, Arch, etc.) are not supported—use Windows or a compatible NAS [2].
Optional: Centralized Rendering
Winner Design v12.0+ supports offloading rendering to dedicated high-CPU machines. Instead of equipping each workstation with expensive processors, a single render server (or cluster) handles all 3D rendering for the network [3]. Render servers communicate via a shared Render Jobs folder (legacy non-Flex deployments) or via the Flex cloud platform (Winner Flex customers) [3].
A render server should have a fast CPU and moderate GPU for best performance [2].