Question 1

What file formats do you support?

Accepted Answer

We currently support Cadence Allegro brd and dsn files; Altium designer schdoc, pcbdoc, schlib, pcblib; KiCad pcb, KiCad Schematics, Footprint Libraries (very soon), Schematic Symbols, Cadence System Capture Schematics (SDAX). For other formats reach out to our dev team at support@allspice.io.

Question 2

How does AllSpice.io connect to Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab?

Accepted Answer

We offer optional Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab authenticators for signing in to AllSpice.io. This makes it easier to login without having to create and manage a new account if you already use one of those Git services. In addition, you can use our migrator tool to photocopy your existing Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab projects to AllSpice.io and even keep them as mirror backups for your AllSpice.io repositories. As always, you have the ability to link to external Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab repositories in your AllSpice.io repos using Git submodule links.

Question 3

Can I host AllSpice.io on-premise?

Accepted Answer

Though most of our users are on the cloud, we do have a self-hosting option if that’s a policy for your company. Given the added complexity in deployment and support requirements, we only offer this alternative for teams with a minimum of 10 users. For ITAR controlled designs, there’s a Gov Cloud alternative as well. To check for specific IT security requirements, send us a note at support@allspice.io and we’ll be happy to verify those for you.

Question 4

Do people need an ECAD license to look at my designs on AllSpice.io?

Accepted Answer

No. We render images of your designs that can be viewed by all collaborators who have access to your AllSpice.io review. Think of it as view and comment privileges only. However, to make design changes to your schematics or PCB files, you’ll need an ECAD license.

Question 5

Does AllSpice.io host my designs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Although we understand some users already have hardware projects in other hosting services (such as Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab), in order to build an amazing user experience for hardware designs, it’s necessary that we host and render files directly. However, we’ve worked to ensure a seamless transition between other hosting services. You can use our migrator tool to photocopy your existing Github/Bitbucket/Gitlab projects to AllSpice.io and even keep them as mirror backups for your AllSpice.io repositories.

Question 6

How do you protect our data?

Accepted Answer

Protecting customer data is our highest priority. Our policy is to match or exceed all security measures for comparable products, such as GitHub & Gitlab. Here are a few examples of the many ways we protect your data: We use only encrypted transfers to our servers (SSH + HTTPS) and use a one-way hash of all user passwords using bcrypt (same as GitHub). We use only SOC 3 Type 2 and/or ISO27001 compliant servers with customer data encrypted at rest with LUKs encrypted mounts. We continuously test our systems against common attack vectors, including XSS, dependency injection, ReDOS, MitM, etc. We use multiple levels of protection including rootless runners on our servers, which prevent malicious actors from installing or running arbitrary code to collect user data in the case of an XSS attack. If you have further questions or concerns, please email us at security@allspice.io.

Question 7

Do I need Git revision control in order to use AllSpice.io?

Accepted Answer

In a nutshell, yes. If you use SVN and are interested in migrating to Git, the process is fairly well documented. For example, Git explains it in this migration resource. If you are a new user, our team will be happy to help you with the process.

Question 8

Will the diff tool continue to be free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the diff tool is our gift to the HW community we so much appreciate. We’re engineers as well, and we want to make the hardware development process better for as many people as we can.

Benefits of Git for hardware: branches & branch protections

Understanding Git for ECAD authentication: HTTPS vs. SSH

Parallelism: hardware development lifecycles vs. software

CI/CD’s impact on hardware development life cycles

Why Git is good for hardware development

Q&A: Hardware development, collaboration, documentation

AllSpice guest episode on Macrofab Engineering podcast

Reviewing component changes and chip shortages

8 benefits of adopting software processes for hardware

How hardware leads can align their team to corporate goals

9 of the best electrical engineering forums, and why

Hardware Design Review Checklist