In our last post on clustering, we talked about the theory behind some different options for clustering. In this post, we’ll go into an example of clustering, taken from our recent experience with one of our OpenGeo Suite Enterprise clients. If you’ll be attending FOSS4G-NA and want to learn more about clustering and GeoServer consider attending our GeoServer training and Juan Marin’s GeoServer in Production presentation (scheduled for 5/23/2013 at 11:30 am).
Clustering Scenario
In this following scenario, we will work through the installation and configuration of two GeoServers each inside their own servlet container instances on the same machine. Each servlet container will use the same JRE and the same container binaries (Apache Tomcat 7), but they will have independent configurations that allow them to run on different ports. These two GeoServer/Tomcat instances will be fronted by a local software proxy called HAProxy which acts as a HTTP/TCP load balancer. Load balancer configurations provide very basic “round robin” balancing of GeoServers. More sophisticated load-balancing configurations are possible, but are beyond the scope of this example. All GeoServers will be deployed as WAR files placed into each of the Tomcat webapps directories. It is possible to have multiple instances of Tomcat share a single web-application through the use of contexts. This is useful if you anticipate your web-application (GeoServer) will be changed/updated frequently, but isn’t necessary. Read the rest of this entry »
We always look forward to opportunities to get together with our friends, colleagues and clients to discuss what’s new in geospatial technology. The FOSS4G conferences of recent years have consistently offered the best opportunity to do just that; that’s one reason why we’re so excited about this year’s FOSS4G North America conference.
Last year we had a pretty big hand in organizing the inaugural DC conference, the event went so well that it’s become an annual event. This year we’ve stepped back from the day-to-day planning but we’re still helping out on the program committee, and we’re happy to support the conference as gold sponsors.
We’ll be sending a pretty large contingent to Minneapolis; nine OpenGeo presentations were accepted and we’ll be teaching fourworkshops. We’re looking forward to an exciting (and busy!) week and hope to see you there. Don’t forget to register to attend; we hear spots are filling up quickly. And if you’ll be in Minneapolis make sure to come by our exhibition table, you never know who you’ll run into.
Interested in hearing us speak? Want to enroll in a workshop? The preliminary program has been announced and the times and dates of specific talks will be posted soon. Scroll down to see list of what we’ll be up to at FOSS4G-NA:
OpenGeo FOSS4G-NA Presentations (Marriott City Center in Minneapolis, MN)
GeoServer CSS: David Winslow
Say Hello to OpenLayers 3: Tim Schaub & Eric Lemoine of Camptocamp
OpenLayers 3: Vectors Redux: Tim Schaub & Andreas Hocevar
Scripting GeoServer with GeoScript: Tim Schaub
LIDAR in PostgreSQL with PointCloud: Paul Ramsey
GeoServer in Production: Juan Marin
State of GeoServer: Justin Deoliveira
PostGIS Feature Frenzy: Paul Ramsey
Diversity in FOSS4G Mailing List: An Analysis: Alyssa Wright & Georgia Bullen of the Open Technology Institute
OpenGeo FOSS4G-NA Workshops (University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN)
OpenGeo is proud to sponsor FedGeo Day, the new conference on modern, open source geospatial tools being used in and around the federal government. Earlier this week the conference schedule was announced, it’s going to be a busy day filled with interesting case studies, panel discussions and technology showcases. For more details take a look at the full schedule, it’s all happening on February 28 in Washington, DC.
We’re looking forward to seeing case studies on how these tools are currently be used, and the discussions on where they are going in the future. We’re also excited to hear from agencies that have been making the shift to open source technology, and why they’ve chosen to do so. Be on the look out for presentations from the DNC, NOAA, NGA, The Department of State, The National Park Service and more. We’ll be listening closely during the panel discussion on how federal geodata needs to change to better serve the public, as well as the panel on challenges of, and successful strategies to, deploying open source geospatial tools in the federal space.
There will also be interactive demos that explore specific open source tools and applications, our talks include:
Eddie Pickle will present on the OpenGeo vision and the future state of open source geospatial tools in the government.
Alyssa Wright will be showing attendees how to take your geospatial deployments to the next level with OpenGeo’s brand new enterprise console.
Ilya Rosenfeld will be demonstrating new server-side processing (WPS) functionality–which allows you to do more than ever with the OpenGeo Suite–and discuss how these advances are altering the landscape for ‘traditional’ GIS,
We hope you’ll join us to find out more about these new and exciting geospatial tools. To register visit fedgeoday.eventbrite.com. More details on the schedule and event specifics are at fedgeoday.com. You can follow conference news by subscribing to @fed_geo on Twitter.
Last week registration opened for FedGeo Day, a one-day conference being held on February 28 in Washington, DC. The event offers a platform for those who work in or with federal agencies to share their experiences with modern open source geospatial technologies.
We’re looking forward to seeing case studies of how these tools are being used in government, what benefits they bring, and why so many agencies are shifting to open source technology. There will also be interactive demos that explore specific open source tools and applications. The agenda will be particularly attractive for those for those who make technology decisions within the federal government. OpenGeo will be presenting how the advances to server-side processing (added to the OpenGeo Suite in the 3.0 release) are altering the landscape for ‘traditional’ GIS.
OpenGeo and MapBox are acting the primary organizers and we thank RadiantBlue, MapStory, GeoEye, and Arc2Earth for joining us in sponsoring the event. A full schedule will be available soon at fedgeoday.com. Sign up now to reserve your spot, as space is limited.
Though it’s been a balmy few months here on the western side of the northern hemisphere, that hasn’t stopped OpenGeo-ers from hitting the road to attend conferences this summer. Here’s a roundup of where we’ve been:
In June, Galen took part in NASA’s Open Source Summit in Washington DC, which gathered interested parties from government and beyond, in order to explore the ways that open source is already making a powerful impact in the federal space.
Camille attended AdaCamp DC, a gathering of women in open source and open culture, which took place on July 10th and 11th at the Washington Post building. She felt privileged to be a among 100 women from around the world selected to attend the event. The conference was highlighted by two-days of illuminating discussions and brainstorming sessions on initiatives to increase the involvement and status of women in “open stuff”. She brought back many ideas and suggestions that we’re eager to hear more about..
Last but never least, the illustrious Paul Ramsey spent the week of July 16th at the annual gathering of who’s who in open source, OSCON, where he delivered a talk entitled “Why Do You Do That? An Exploration of Open Source Business Models”. He reported that the conference was jam-packed with “quality speakers, good opportunities to network and meet as many people you wish, and a range of surprising new things that send you home going ‘wow’”. You can check out his writeup about the event, with his key takeaways from the event over at his blog.
That’s all for now, but we’ll be attending many more conferences in the fall. We hope to see you soon!
We’re super excited about this year’s FOSS4G North America Conference. OpenGeo is sending pretty big group to DC. Not only are we Gold Sponsors, we also have nearly a dozen OpenGeo presentations on the program, our own Sponsor Day event, and Paul Ramsey volunteered as conference chair! We’re looking forward to an exciting (and busy!) week.
Remember to register for the conference. We hear there are still spots but they are filling up quickly. If you’re in attendance make sure to come by our exhibition table, you never know who you’ll run into.
Interested in hearing us speak? Scroll down to see list of all of the OpenGeo talks on the program:
Interested in a full day, hands-on workshop on Monday April 9, just before the FOSS4G North America conference? Please fill out this form to let us know what you’d like to see.
If you can’t make it, don’t worry! This is not a commitment to attend the course, we're using this opportunity to gauge interest in our training offerings. Please note that full day workshops cost $450 and half day workshops cost $250.
OpenGeo is always eager to help advance open source geospatial software projects. When Andreas Hocevar told us that the GeoExt community was planning a code sprint for GeoExt 2.0 we were happy to get involved. The sprint is still in the planning stages and, unfortunately, not fully funded. Though many have contributed, we’re hoping others will join us in sponsoring this event.
GeoEXT and ExtJS 4
GeoExt enables building desktop-like GIS applications through the web. It is a Javascript framework that combines the GIS functionality of OpenLayers with the user interface of the ExtJS library provided by Sencha. GeoExt currently works with ExtJS 3 but that does not utilize the new features in ExtJS 4 (charting, harmonized API with Sencha Touch for mobile applications, and others). The upcoming code sprint will target developing GeoExt 2.0 to work with ExtJS 4 in order to leverage the newest features.
Participants
Representatives from the following companies have confirmed attendance and sponsorship:
These organizations have provided core developers for GeoExt 1.x and have experience as service providers building applications with ExtJS 4. We’re excited to work with them again as we help develop GeoExt 2.0
Sponsor search A week-long gathering of eight developers calls for a budget of $52,000. This covers travel, accommodations and partly the developers themselves. While much of this cost is being borne by the participating organizations we have not been able to close the gap.
We are looking for sponsors to help. Sponsors will be named explicitly and are encouraged to input their priorities for desired functionality in GeoExt 2.0.
Call for sponsorship
The participating organizations would like to invite all organizations and users utilizing GeoExt to sponsor the code sprint. Becoming a sponsor ensures the benefits from the new functions that will be implemented.
If you have questions or interest in sponsoring the code sprint please contact us at inquiry@opengeo.org
OpenGeo is evaluating offering training sessions for GIS instructors at colleges and universities. If you are affiliated with an academic institution, please answer the following questions so we can gauge interest. This form is intended to be filled out by GIS users and instructors in academica. If you would like to find out more or discuss your specific needs please contact us.
Last month, a few of us at OpenGeo attended the GEOINT 2011 Symposium in San Antonio where, for the first time, open source received some serious attention. There were two panels on open source technologies and multiple keynote addresses highlighting the benefits of open source and the need to reduce software licensing costs.
Our COO, Eddie Pickle, sat on a panel moderated by John Scott, Co-Chairman of RadiantBlue and Dr. Christopher Tucker, USGIF Board Member. He used the opportunity to offer his thoughts on open source geospatial technologies and discuss open source adoption. Eddie highlighted the TsuDAT project as an example of a collaborative, open source GeoNode application. Zoom ahead to 38:00 minutes in the video below to see Eddie discuss OpenGeo’s experiences developing, deploying, and supporting open source solutions.
The video also offers some interesting perspectives from other panelists who discussed their experiences implementing and using open source technologies. Questions start at 58:00 minutes, enjoy.
We always look forward to opportunities to get together with our friends, colleagues and clients to discuss what’s new in geospatial technology. The FOSS4G conferences of recent years have consistently offered the best opportunity to do just that; that’s one reason why we’re so excited about this year’s 
