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Abstract
Creating a Multi-Tiered, Multi-Server System: Trials and Tribulations with ArcIMS
Track: Metadata and Data Publishing
Author(s): Clark Roberts, Carolyn White
MapIllinois is an ArcIMS prototype project that was begun at the University of Illinois. As development progressed, MapIllinois became the basis for a variety of Web sites that had diverse target audiences and deliverables. This growth demonstrated the need for a scalable and fault-tolerant Web infrastructure with high availability. The constraints included near-term expansion and limited financial resources, which led to using industry-standard hardware (Intel-based, Windows 2000 Servers) and software systems to provide the platform. What was learned in the process is that there is much more to implementing a multitiered, multiserver system than suggested. Issues such as networking speed between computers and to the DNS server, network and computer naming conventions, and what load balancing scheme should be implemented become real issues. In the end it was a few limitations in the ArcIMS software coupled with security patches to the Windows operating system and Web server that convinced researchers to take another path, at least until the sustainability issue is addressed.
Clark Roberts
University of Illinois
Agricultural & Consumer Economics
326 Mumford Hall
1301 W Gregory Drive
Urbana , IL 61801
USA
Phone: 217-333-5513
Fax: 217-333-5538
E-mail: crobrts1@uiuc.edu
Carolyn White
University of Illinois
Information Technology & Communication Services
207 Taft House
1401 S. Maryland Drive
Urbana 61801
USA
Phone: (217) 333-6751
E-mail: cswhite@uiuc.edu