System Design Strategies Preface

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System Design Strategies (select here for table of contents)
1. System Design Process 2. GIS Software Technology 3. Software Performance 4. Server Software Performance
5. GIS Data Administration 6. Network Communications 7. Platform Performance 8. Information Security
9. GIS Product Architecture 10. Performance Management 11. City of Rome 12. System Implementation
A1. Capacity Planning Tool B1. Windows Memory Management Preface (Executive Summary) SDSwiki What's New


Spring 2019 System Design Strategies Preface 44th Edition

The System Design Strategies wiki documentation includes a table of contents and 12 separate chapters linked by a Table of Contents (TOC) at the top and bottom of each chapter (wiki page). System design concepts identified in the chapters include hyperlinks to system design demonstrations (analysis) included in the Capacity Planning Tool appendix. You can access the overall System Design Strategies table of contents page through the System Design Strategies link located at the top of each TOC insert. Each SDSwiki chapter includes a Contents providing an outline of the chapter information.

You are currently located on the System Design Strategies Preface chapter. This chapter provides an executive summary of the SDSwiki content. If you have any questions about this content, please post them to the Implementing ArcGIS discussion forum on GeoNet. Here you will find a community of subject matter experts and GIS practitioners that can help provide answers and suggestions.

What is the System Design Strategies documentation?

The System Design Strategies documentation was developed and maintained to share our system architecture design methodology and the fundamental principles that contribute to system performance and scalability. The System Design Strategies 26th Edition was released in August 2009 - the last PDF version of the complete document.

The first System Design Strategies content was published on the Esri wiki.gis.com site in March 2010 - the first "living" online System Design Strategies publication. The online wiki site provides a more adaptive publishing framework than what was available with static PDF documents - an opportunity to maintain and share much richer content in a timely manner. The System Design Strategies wiki site is maintained as a current resource - updated as required to keep pace with technology. Major updates are planned each year, providing a spring and fall release to reflect major changes in technology. Each update includes a link to previous release editions for historical reference.

Who can benefit from this documentation?

This document is shared to help Esri customers build and maintain successful GIS operations. The audience includes GIS managers, Project managers, GIS technical architects, IT administrators, business partners, systems integrators, system consultants, system administrators, and software developers - there is a broad audience that can benefit from an understanding of enterprise system performance and scalability. The content is focused on system design fundamentals - the technology concepts that contribute to successful GIS operations.

What is this document all about?

Technology has changed dramatically over the years, and updates to this document reflect those changes. Esri System Architecture Design services have evolved with the changing technology. Technology choices available today position GIS as a platform for effective Enterprise and Community business information systems integration.

System architecture design is a discipline that requires a clear understanding of business needs, user workflow requirements (business processes), GIS software technology patterns, software performance, data architecture patterns, network communications, GIS solution architecture, information security, and hardware platform performance. An Enterprise GIS design must consider business needs and the technical architecture required to meet user performance expectations.

GIS technology is rapidly evolving to leverage cloud computing platforms, including a full suite of applications and services to discover, create, manage, visualize, analyze, collaborate and share a better understanding of our world.

The chapters that follow provide an overview of the many pieces of technology that must work together within a distributed GIS production environment. Each chapter summary includes a list of primary content objectives. Online streaming video links are provided at the end of several chapters to demonstrate how the Capacity Planning Tool can be used to answer your performance and scalability questions and complete your system architecture design.

System Design Process

System architecture design is an analytic process that generates IT hardware and network capacity requirements from specified peak business workflow performance needs.
User needs must be identified before completing the system architecture design. A simple user requirements template can be used to review and collect peak user workflow requirements. GIS user workflows are best defined during a formal user needs assessment, where existing user workflows are reviewed to identify technology enhancements that will improve business operations. Roger Tomlinson provides excellent guidance for GIS planning in his Esri Press release Thinking about GIS Fifth Edition, GIS Planning for Managers. A sample Enterprise System Design case study will be presented in Chapter 12 (City of Rome).
Topics covered
  1. What Is System Architecture Design?
  2. What is the System Design Process?
  3. Building a GIS: Implementation strategy
  4. Capacity planning terminology
  5. GIS business planning
  6. Monitor performance compliance
  7. Platform capacity calculations

The capacity planning tool provides a framework for collecting user requirements and completing the system design. This chapter ends with a streaming video that provides an introduction to the system design process and an overview of the structure of the Capacity Planning Tool.

GIS Software Technology

What is ArcGIS today?
Since the early 1970s, Esri has continued to develop GIS software technology supporting functional requirements identified by the GIS user community. Sensitivity to software development trends and enterprise architecture strategies provide guidelines for development investment. Esri software developers leverage the latest computer hardware and software technology to maintain leadership in the GIS marketplace. Resources are aligned to provide the best software and services based on GIS customer needs.

A variety of ArcGIS software technology patterns are available to satisfy enterprise business operational needs. Technology patterns include a broad range of Desktop, Server, and Mobile deployment options. Selecting the right technology is a critical step in the enterprise system design process.

Topics covered
  1. GIS Software Evolution
  2. ArcGIS platform use role summary
  3. ArcGIS Desktop user roles
  4. ArcGIS Desktop is changing
  5. ArcGIS Desktop workflows
  6. Web app user roles
  7. ArcGIS Enterprise licensing
  8. Additional capabilities for ArcGIS Enterprise
  9. ArcGIS geoprocessing workflows
  10. Premium apps for ArcGIS
  11. ArcGIS Online
  12. GIS Software Selection

This chapter ends with a Capacity Planning Tool online streaming video. The GIS Software Technology video describes how the capacity planning tool can be used to select the right software technology for each identified user workflow. This video focuses on understanding and configuring the CPT Workflow tab for an Enterprise GIS design.

Software Performance

This section shares lessons learned about selecting and building effective GIS design solutions that satisfy operational performance and scalability needs.

Baseline workflow represents a medium load profile distributed across the baseline software technology components.
Software technology allows us to model our work processes. The complexity of these models, how we organize our data content, what we include in each map display scale (number of layers, features per layer, feature complexity), and the functions we use to analyze and present information has a significant impact on the computer processing workload, system performance, and scalability.

Capacity Planning Tools automate our system architecture design analysis (translate processing loads to hardware solutions) enabling refined and accurate performance management.

Building a system design that addresses capacity planning needs can improve user productivity and reduced implementation risk.

Topics covered
  1. Workflow baselines
  2. Custom workflows
  3. Software workflow recipe
  4. Software technology selection
  5. Data source selection
  6. Custom workflow processing loads
  7. Software performance summary

This chapter ends with a Capacity Planning Tool online streaming video. The Software Performance Video describes the CPT Calculator software technology selection and performance parameters that define user workflow performance targets. The result generated on the Calculator tab is transferred to the Workflow tab for use in the Enterprise system architecture design. The Calculator tab can also be used for system performance and scalability demonstrations and preliminary system architecture design analysis to evaluation a single workflow technology selection.

The video also describes the software component service times and network traffic performance factors included in the CPT Workflow tab. The Workflow tab identifies the processing loads used for complete the Enterprise system design analysis. Selecting the proper user workflow processing loads (performance targets) is a critical step in completing a valid system architecture design.

Server Software Performance

ArcGIS for Server includes instances, processes, and threads. Understanding this terminology is important in properly configuring the server.
There are many key factors that impact ArcGIS for Server software performance and scalability. Proper configuration and services deployment can empower your GIS operations.
Topics covered
  1. ArcGIS Enterprise software architecture
  2. ArcGIS Server site configurations
  3. ArcGIS Server Terminology
  4. Map Service instance configuration strategies
  5. Cached map service
  6. Generating the map cache
  7. GIS Server machine memory configuration
  8. Selecting the right technology: A case study
  9. Server Software performance summary

This chapter ends with a Greek citizen declaration case study that highlights the value of proper software selection.

GIS Data Administration

GIS enterprise data architecture is no longer just a geodatabase, it often includes a combination of both the GIS feature data and the imagery data resources supporting common services managed by an integrated data center operations.
Data provides the resources you need to make proper business decisions. The information products required to make business decisions determine the critical data resources that must be available for business operations. How you organize and maintain your data resources can determine the success of your business operations.

A variety of data management and distribution strategies are available today to improve data access and dissemination throughout the rapidly expanding GIS user community. The volume of data you must sort through each day is growing exponentially. How you manage, organize, and control these data resources is critical to your success.

Topics covered
  1. GIS feature data architecture
  2. Enterprise Geodatabase
  3. Geodatabase replication use-cases
  4. ArcGIS for Desktop direct connection to supported DBMS content
  5. GIS imagery data architecture
  6. GIS enterprise data architecture
  7. Storage architecture options
  8. Ways to move GIS data
  9. Protect your GIS data resources
  10. Data Management Overview

Selection and configuration of your GIS data resources contributes to map service complexity and system performance.

Network Communications

GIS users workflows generate relatively high levels of traffic across the network.
Network communications provide the required connectivity for distributed GIS operations. Network capacity, in many cases, can limit the software technology solutions that perform well within your organization. System architecture design can identify and address network communication constraints and provide the right technical solution for a successful GIS implementation.

Properly configured communication technology enables broad range of software technology solutions, connecting over the Internet and bringing information from millions of sources directly to the GIS user desktop in real-time.

Mobile cell phones and tablet devices provide real time access to wireless communications connecting to global Internet information resources for mobile GIS clients.

Topics covered
  1. Why is GIS traffic-intensive?
  2. Types of networks
  3. What is network capacity?
  4. What is data?
  5. GIS Client/Server Communication Protocols
  6. Network Performance
  7. Shared network performance
  8. Enterprise network architecture
  9. Network Suitability Analysis
  10. Network contribution to Web performance
  11. Conclusion

This chapter ends with a Capacity Planning Tool online streaming video. The CPT Calculator demonstrates display traffic contribution to user display performance and the CPT Design completes the network bandwidth suitability assessment. This video shows how the CPT Calculator shows user workflow performance over limited bandwidth connections and how the CPT Design can be used to complete an enterprise design network suitability analysis.

Platform Performance

Platform Performance Baseline
Selecting the right hardware will improve user performance, reduce overall system cost, and establish a foundation for building effective GIS operations. Selecting the wrong hardware can contribute to implementation failure - spending money on a system that will not support your business needs.

Hardware vendors do not know what hardware is required to satisfy your GIS needs. This chapter shares the system architecture design methodology developed to help you select the right hardware for your planned GIS operations. This chapter also shares information for justifying hardware purchases based on expected return on investment.

Topics covered
  1. Platform Performance Baseline
  2. Platform Performance
  3. 2017 ArcGIS Server platform selection
  4. ArcGIS Platform Sizing
  5. Platform Selection Criteria

This chapter ends with a Capacity Planning Tool online streaming video. The Platform Performance video provides an overview of the CPT Hardware tab and identifies the methodology for physical and virtual platform selection on the CPT Calculator and CPT Design tabs.

Information Security

The CIA security triad provides overall guidance for enterprise security management.
This chapter provides an introduction to the purpose and scope of information security. Basic concepts are introduced for developing security solutions that meet your business needs. Esri's approach to enterprise security is adjusted based on customer needs, and information patterns share how to establish security measures appropriate for your organization.

Recent industry advancements, especially in the areas of web service standards and service-oriented architectures, are enabling architects to more effectively satisfy enterprise security objectives. Esri's careful attention to these standards, coupled with an overall philosophy of providing highly interoperable software, provides security architects with a high level of flexibility, thus establishing trust for all Esri components contained in an enterprise solution.

Topics covered
  1. What is information security?
  2. Esri security strategy evolution
  3. ArcGIS Server: Authorization deployment scenarios
  4. Portal: Authentication deployment scenarios
  5. ArcGIS Online security authentication and authorization
  6. Portal for ArcGIS security authentication and authorization
  7. Portal Collaboration
  8. Security in the cloud
  9. Esri’s security strategy
  10. Enterprise security firewall patterns
  11. Business continuance
  12. Business continuance operations: Requires more than technology
  13. Business continuance operations: People and process considerations
  14. Security strategy overview
  15. Security resources

Security is everybody's job, there is no exception. The world is not a secure environment, and you need to keep your eyes and minds open to the threats around you.

GIS Product Architecture

Esri ArcGIS System Environment
GIS Product Architecture provides a foundation for understanding the software components and platform configuration options available for distributed GIS operations. Understanding application architecture alternatives and associated configuration strategies provides a foundation for selecting an appropriate distributed GIS design.

Enterprise-level GIS applications support a variety of users throughout an organization, all requiring access to shared spatial and attribute data sources. System hardware and software environments for distributed GIS applications are supported by a multi-tier client/server or Web services architecture.

Topics covered
  1. ArcGIS technical architecture evolution
  2. Virtualization deployment options
  3. ArcGIS Desktop architecture patterns
  4. ArcGIS Enterprise services architecture
  5. ArcGIS Platform deployment strategies
  6. ArcGIS Server site deployment (single-site alternative patterns)
  7. ArcGIS Server site deployment (multiple site patterns)
  8. ArcGIS Enterprise server roles
  9. Concluding Remarks

This chapter ends with a Capacity Planning Tool online streaming video. The Product Architecture video shows how to select workflow platform architecture on the CPT Calculator tab and how to complete an enterprise level software installation and platform selection on the CPT Design tab.

Performance Management

Performance management involves building a design solution based on appropriate workflow performance targets and managing compliance throughout design and implementation to deliver within those targets.
Esri started developing simple system performance models in the early 1990s to document our understanding about distributed processing systems. These system performance models have been used by Esri system design consultants to support distributed computing hardware solutions since 1992.

The Capacity Planning Tool was introduced in 2008 incorporating the best of the traditional client/server and web services sizing models providing an adaptive sizing methodology to support future enterprise GIS operations. The new capacity planning methodology is much easier to use and provides metrics to manage performance compliance during development, initial implementation, and system delivery. This chapter introduces how these design models can be used for performance management.

Topics covered
  1. System performance factors
  2. How is performance managed?
  3. Platform throughput and service time
  4. Platform performance and response time
  5. How to size the network
  6. What is a valid user workflow?
  7. Geoprocessing services (batch workflows)
  8. Platform queue time
  9. What is system performance?
  10. Server deployment transaction throughput capacity constraints
  11. Performance Validation
  12. Capacity Planning

This chapter ends with a Capacity Planning Tool online streaming video. The Performance Fundamentals video provides an overview of the CPT Design tab user requirements framework, demonstrates how the adjust functions are used to identify user productivity, and shows how the CPT test tab can be used to validate workflow performance compliance.

City of Rome

City of Rome Year 2 user location and bandwidth connectivity.
Esri has developed a system architecture design methodology for establishing hardware and network requirements needed to satisfy the performance and communication needs of GIS application users.

A fundamental understanding of user workflow requirements and the supporting GIS technology is required before one can identify the appropriate hardware and network requirements for supporting their enterprise GIS operations.

City of Rome is the name of a case study that demonstrates a process that can be used as a foundation for most enterprise system design analysis. This case study makes use of the Esri Capacity Planning Tools for modeling user requirements and completing the system architecture design

Topics covered
  1. City of Rome case study
  2. Pre-design efforts
  3. City of Rome existing operations
  4. Phase 1 ArcGIS Enterprise IOC
  5. Phase 1 Vector tile basemap deployment
  6. Phase 1 Upgrade WTS host platform tier to support remote ArcGIS Pro clients
  7. Phase 1 ArcGIS Enterprise IOC baseline design solution
  8. Phase 2 Water Utility Solution
  9. City of Rome system design cost analysis summary
  10. Choosing a system configuration


System Implementation

A phased system deployment strategy includes prototype development testing, initial production rollout, and final production rollout on an established implementation schedule that enforces system configuration control.
Successful system implementation requires good leadership and careful planning. A good understanding of every component of the system is critical in putting together an implementation strategy.

Enterprise IT environments involve integration of a variety of vendor technologies. Interoperability standards within commercial software environments are voluntary, and even the simplest system upgrade must be validated at each step of the integration process.

Enterprise GIS environments include a broad spectrum of technology integration. Most environments today include database servers, storage area networks, Windows Terminal Servers, Web servers, map servers, mobile and desktop clients—all connected by a broad range of local area networks, wide area networks, and Internet communications. All these technologies must function together properly to support a balanced computing environment.

Topics covered
  1. GIS Staffing
  2. Integrated system design process
  3. Pre design efforts
  4. Maintain a current plan
  5. System architecture design
  6. System Architecture Deployment Strategy
  7. System Testing
  8. Systems Integration Management
  9. Managing Technology Change

Successful implementation depends on a good solid design, appropriate hardware and software product selection, successful systems integration, and careful incremental evaluation during installation. A phased approach to implementation reduces project risk and promotes success, providing the opportunity for early success and flexibility to incorporate new technology at low risk through incremental system delivery.

Capacity Planning Tool

The Calculator tab was designed for use in defining workflow performance targets. A selection recipe is used to generate workflows from a baseline set of performance targets.
The Esri Capacity Planning Tool (CPT) is used throughout the System Design Strategies (SDS) wiki to demonstrate design concepts and automate the system design analysis. The CPT demonstrations reinforce design concepts presented throughout the SDS wiki chapters.

System Design Process (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. CPT Workflow loads analysis
  2. CPT System architecture design
  3. CPT HWPricing tab: Hardware procurement costs
  4. CPT Hardware tab: Platform performance
  5. CPT Test tab: Performance validation


Figure A-1.4 Workflow tab is used to define project workflows. It includes standard workflows and links for custom, test, and composite workflow performance targets.

GIS Software Technology (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. CPT desktop workflows
  2. CPT server workflows
  3. CPT Mobile Workflows
  4. CPT Geoprocessing services
  5. Project Workflow assignment (Standard Workflows)

Software Performance (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. Software technology category
  2. Software technology pattern
  3. Display Graphics selection
  4. ArcGIS density/portal selection
  5. Display complexity selection
  6. ArcGIS percent data cache (%DataCache) selection
  7. Resolution selection
  8. Output selection
  9. Vector storage format selection
  10. Imagery storage format selection
  11. Standard workflow selections
  12. Custom workflow processing loads
  13. Project Workflow assignment (Custom Workflows)

Server Software Performance (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. ArcGIS Server batch process instance configuration
  2. CPT Design map service instance configuration
  3. CPT Design Web service pooling configuration throughput summary
  4. Selecting the right technology: A case study
  5. Caching advantage summary


GIS Data Administration (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. Modifying the CPT Platform Capacity Calculator workflow configuration
  2. Selecting an imagery workflow on the CPT Calculator tab
  3. Selecting an imagery workflow on the CPT Design tab

Network Communications (CPT Demos)

Figure A-6.2 Latency is addressed for each remote location in the CPT Calculator in cells E13 and E14.
Topics include
  1. CPT network latency performance delays
  2. CPT Calculator network suitability analysis
  3. CPT Design user requirements workflow loads analysis
  4. CPT Design network suitability analysis
  5. Network performance parameter look-up list
  6. Network contribution to Web performance


Platform Performance (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. CPT Hardware tab
  2. CPT used to evaluate best buy
  3. CPT Platform Sizing Analysis

Security (no demos)

Product Architecture (Platform configuration)

The CPT Design tab completes an enterprise level system architecture design analysis once you have entered your business workflow needs, available network bandwidth connectivity, and selected platform configuration.
GIS Product Architecture (CPT Calculator Demos)
Topics include
  1. ArcGIS Desktop: CPT Calculator configurations
  2. CPT Calculator ArcGIS Server platform configuration
  3. CPT Calculator ArcGIS Enterprise server roles
GIS Product Architecture (CPT Design Demos)
Topics include
  1. Generic ArcMap ArcGIS Enterprise platform technical architecture
  2. Generic Pro ArcGIS Enterprise platform technical architecture
  3. Detailed Pro VDI ArcGIS Enterprise platform technical architecture
  4. CPT Design ArcGIS Enterprise server licensing roles
  5. Concluding Remarks


Test measurements are used to validate workflow performance compliance. The CPT Test tab provides tools for use in translating performance measurements to workflow performance targets that can be used to generate those measured loads.

Performance Management (CPT Demos)

Topics include
  1. Workflow productivity
  2. Batch process loads
  3. Multi-core platform performance
  4. ArcGIS Server Site scalability
  5. ArcGIS Server Virtual Machine (VM) performance
  6. Performance Validation

The CPT provides a framework for integrating business, data, applications, and technical architecture needs required to design, deploy, and manage successful enterprise GIS operations.

City of Rome (CPT Demos)

City of Rome Year 1 (CPT Demos)
Figure 11.43 GIS data center platform architecture for Phase 2 City of Rome GIS Operations and Water Utilities deployment.
Topics include
  1. Pre-design efforts
  2. Phase 1: City of Rome existing operations
  3. Phase 1: ArcGIS Enterprise IOC
  4. Phase 1 Vector tile basemap deployment
  5. Phase 1: Upgrade WTS host platform tier to support remote ArcGIS Pro clients
  6. CPT Phase 1 ArcGIS Enterprise IOC baseline design solution
City of Rome Year 2 (CPT Demos)]
Topics include
  1. Phase 2 Water Utility Solution
  2. Phase 2: City of Rome Water Utility deployment
  3. CPT Design detailed 15-tier platform configuration: Water Utility deployment
  4. CPT Design final generic 4-tier platform solution: Water Utility deployment final design


System Implementation (no CPT demos)

Acronyms and Glossary

A complete list of Acronyms and Glossary is provided with this document. The glossary provides a definition of how key words are used within the context of this document.

Acronyms
Glossary

Previous Editions

System Design Strategies Preface 43rd Edition

System Design Strategies (select here for table of contents)
1. System Design Process 2. GIS Software Technology 3. Software Performance 4. Server Software Performance
5. GIS Data Administration 6. Network Communications 7. Platform Performance 8. Information Security
9. GIS Product Architecture 10. Performance Management 11. City of Rome 12. System Implementation
A1. Capacity Planning Tool B1. Windows Memory Management Preface (Executive Summary) SDSwiki What's New


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Specific license terms for this content
System Design Strategies 26th edition - An Esri ® Technical Reference Document • 2009 (final PDF release)

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