[mapserver-users] 64 bits version of MapServer

[Paul Spencer]

James,

Unless you have already done so, optimizing your mapfile and data will  
yield improvements in map rendering speed that would probably be more  
substantial than switching to 64 bit builds.  Of course, under 100 ms  
per map draw doesn't sound too bad so you have probably implemented  
most optimizations already.

The basic optimizations I can think of quickly are:

* use tiled, indexed shape files for vector data and tiled/overviewed  
tif files for raster data
* eliminate all unused attributes from the dbf files
* use fastcgi
* draw smaller maps

Other optimizations might include:

* use a faster operating system (linux) with a light-weight web server  
(lighttpd is typically faster than apache for instance)
* use scale ranges to limit the data that has to be drawn at any given  
scale
* precompute attribute values to avoid non-trivial class expressions
* use RAM disks for your data, or at a minimum faster hard drives
* using preset scales and simplifying/generalizing your data for each  
scale so you have the minimum amount of data to process
* eliminate extraneous cartography (draw less)
* eliminate extraneous data (that lies outside of the region of  
interest)
* use a tiled client such as openlayers, prerender your static data  
into tiles and overlay only dynamically changing data using  either  
map draws or vectors

On 16-Jun-08, at 1:46 PM, Léveillé, James wrote:

> Hi,
>
> We've been using MapServer for a while. It has been used to produce  
> maps for the "Inforoutière", the official source of all the  
> information needed to plan safe trips on Québec’s road network,  
> whatever the season.
>
> It has been running on Windows 2003 (32 bits) for over a year.
> At the beginning, many "stress tests" were realised.
> We were able to generate around 12 maps / second.
> But now, due to the popularity of the site, this seems not to be  
> enough in special occasions, such as during a snow storm.
> The bottle neck seems to be the CPU.
>
> One of the few options we were looking at is the possibility of  
> using a 64 bits version of MapServer (on a 64 bits OS of course).
>
> My question is simple : has any one tested a 64 bits version ? Can I  
> expect a better performance ? Is there a 64 bits version available  
> for download (I've been using the MS4W Windows binary distribution  
> version) ?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________
>
> JAMES LÉVEILLÉ
> Service des systèmes de Mission
> Direction des technologies de l'information
> Ministère des Transports du Québec
>
> 5833, boul. Pierre-Bertrand, 2ième étage
> Québec (Québec) G2K 1K7
> Téléphone:   (418) 380-2005 poste 227
> Télécopieur: (418) 644-6653
> james.leveille at mtq.gouv.qc.ca
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapserver-users mailing list
> mapserver-users at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-users


__________________________________________

  Paul Spencer
  Chief Technology Officer
  DM Solutions Group Inc
  http://www.dmsolutions.ca/