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August 14, 2008
Map Cache Tile Hosting
I have been sitting on this for a while now, but we finally have all our ducks in a row. I am ready to announce our new Image Tile Cache Hosting and Management service. We are now hosting several, multi gigabyte ArcGIS tile caches at our facilities and serving them via the ArcGIS Server 9.3 REST API.
This new service arose from our work with a client in which they needed to serve a nationwide raster dataset via the new ArcGIS Server 9.3 JavaScript API. This client also had lots of other sites that served ArcIMS images, and even other vector based ArcGIS dynamic layers. This client has some pretty decent bandwidth, a T1. However, it became apparent pretty quickly, that their bandwidth was becoming totally saturated and they were going to need to get more bandwidth, quick. These cached raster tiles are pretty big (lets say an average of 100 k per 512 x 512 tile). This application also took off pretty quickly (thanks to the ArcGIS Server team for making such a great developer toolset), which was great, but it was quickly becoming a victim of its own success. So, we decided to move the map cache to our facilities here at ROK, to offload some of the bandwidth draw to our connection instead of the clients. What a huge difference it made in the application. It has continued to gain (huge) popularity and is scaling quite nicely, without the client having to worry about bandwidth.
So, here is what this means to you, the application developer.
-We provide a very fast link to host and serve your tile cache to your web applications
-We can obtain your cache a number of ways, like ftp, snail mail, or even secure geodatabase replication
-We'll store your cache on multiple independent, fault tolerant network links
-We can create and manage your cache if you prefer. As you probably know, creating a cache can be quite a daunting process at times.
We can also host your entire application (and use our tile host of course) if you prefer. However, giving application developers having the option of offloading your huge cache files to another link is a huge benefit. As a user, I can tell you that I just *hate* waiting for maps to load. With this service, that’s no longer an issue.
So, check out the little fact sheet, it describes the service and its benefits a little better than I can do. But, if you are interested in this, drop us a line info@roktech.net. I can even show you an app using our service vs. clients own bandwidth, if you are interested. It’s a pretty amazing difference.
Quick Update - Some Links:
Here are some extremely simple demos. One is using the hosting service, and the other isnt. Honestly, these are not the best map services to demo with. I need to get some orthos set up. I have a couple more that I can't share publicly, but will show to anyone if they drop me an email.
The other problem with these demos is that the difference between the 2 isn't that obvious, if at all. This service becomes valuable as your load increases and you start falling short on bandwidth. These demos aren't exactly under a heavy load if you get my drift. Anyway, if you look look at firebug, you'll see I am using the new 1.1 js lib and taking advantage of multiple tileservers. One from S3, and one on my link. The combination of the two makes for some blazing speed when under any kind of load.
This new service arose from our work with a client in which they needed to serve a nationwide raster dataset via the new ArcGIS Server 9.3 JavaScript API. This client also had lots of other sites that served ArcIMS images, and even other vector based ArcGIS dynamic layers. This client has some pretty decent bandwidth, a T1. However, it became apparent pretty quickly, that their bandwidth was becoming totally saturated and they were going to need to get more bandwidth, quick. These cached raster tiles are pretty big (lets say an average of 100 k per 512 x 512 tile). This application also took off pretty quickly (thanks to the ArcGIS Server team for making such a great developer toolset), which was great, but it was quickly becoming a victim of its own success. So, we decided to move the map cache to our facilities here at ROK, to offload some of the bandwidth draw to our connection instead of the clients. What a huge difference it made in the application. It has continued to gain (huge) popularity and is scaling quite nicely, without the client having to worry about bandwidth.
So, here is what this means to you, the application developer.
-We provide a very fast link to host and serve your tile cache to your web applications
-We can obtain your cache a number of ways, like ftp, snail mail, or even secure geodatabase replication
-We'll store your cache on multiple independent, fault tolerant network links
-We can create and manage your cache if you prefer. As you probably know, creating a cache can be quite a daunting process at times.
We can also host your entire application (and use our tile host of course) if you prefer. However, giving application developers having the option of offloading your huge cache files to another link is a huge benefit. As a user, I can tell you that I just *hate* waiting for maps to load. With this service, that’s no longer an issue.
So, check out the little fact sheet, it describes the service and its benefits a little better than I can do. But, if you are interested in this, drop us a line info@roktech.net. I can even show you an app using our service vs. clients own bandwidth, if you are interested. It’s a pretty amazing difference.
Quick Update - Some Links:
Here are some extremely simple demos. One is using the hosting service, and the other isnt. Honestly, these are not the best map services to demo with. I need to get some orthos set up. I have a couple more that I can't share publicly, but will show to anyone if they drop me an email.
The other problem with these demos is that the difference between the 2 isn't that obvious, if at all. This service becomes valuable as your load increases and you start falling short on bandwidth. These demos aren't exactly under a heavy load if you get my drift. Anyway, if you look look at firebug, you'll see I am using the new 1.1 js lib and taking advantage of multiple tileservers. One from S3, and one on my link. The combination of the two makes for some blazing speed when under any kind of load.
Demo no host
Demo using tile host
Comments
Sounds good ... can you post a URL of a site using this service?
When you use the s3, how much bandwidth does a highly used sight use in a month, how expensive does it get?
@Adam
Compared to bringing the lines to accommodate that kind of usage to your premises, incredibly cheap. The specific price of course all depends on bytes transferred. But, suffice to say its drop in the bucket compared to the benefit of the service.
Compared to bringing the lines to accommodate that kind of usage to your premises, incredibly cheap. The specific price of course all depends on bytes transferred. But, suffice to say its drop in the bucket compared to the benefit of the service.
well… i visit your website first time and found this site very usefull and intresting !
well… you guys doing nice work and i just want to say that keep rocking and keep it up !!!!
Regards
Desoza
well… you guys doing nice work and i just want to say that keep rocking and keep it up !!!!
Regards
Desoza