[mapguide-users] Differences between UMN MapServer & MapGuide...

[Jason Birch]

Hmm. :)

You could do a lot without ripping and replacing MapServer by
introducing OpenLayers and something like TileCache into your
environment.  You may want to look at Fusion or MapFish (both of which
encapsulate OpenLayers) for a development framework.  The nice thing
about Fusion is that it's intended to be cross-platform, supporting both
MapGuide and MapServer, which would make migration less painful if you
did decide to move in the future.  The not-so-nice thing is that it's
not really available publicly outside of the MapGuide build yet, though
there is apparently a plan to move it onto OSGeo infrastructure shortly.

Although I don't have any direct experience with MapServer, I am not
convinced that you would see better performance with MapGuide than with
MapServer if your sole concern is displaying maps.  The implementation
of a tile caching solution (either MapGuide-native or TileCache) will
give you far more bang-for-the-buck if it's done right.

Strengths and weaknesses... There was a thread at SlashGeo on this
subject last year.  Both applications have come a long way since then,
but a lot of the comments are still valid.

http://industry.slashgeo.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/07/183222

Regardless of the platform you choose, competing with Google Maps is
difficult.
 
Jason

-----Original Message-----
From: mapguide-users-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:mapguide-users-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Nolte, Tim
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 13:24
To: MapGuide Users Mail List
Subject: RE: [mapguide-users] Differences between UMN MapServer &
MapGuide...

I guess what I am looking for is what are the strengths and weaknesses
of both. Basically our MapServer currently serves both Shapefiles (39
layers) & Oracle Spatial (11 layers) data. My biggest concern is
user-perceived performance. Our current server config is a 3.06GHz
Opteron w/ 8GB of RAM. I've tried to tune our data as best I can however
I'm still concerned about the end-user perceived performance. As most
people are, I'm up against people expecting our MapServer to perform
with the same speed as Google Maps. I'm also looking for something with
a very visually polished development framework. I know that looks aren't
everything but it does offer some credibility to the information being
presented. Thanks for any input anyone has.

- Tim

----
Timothy J Nolte - tnolte at ilpcs.com
Associate Network Planning Engineer

iPCS Wireless, Inc.
4717 Broadmoor Ave, Suite G
Kentwood, MI 49512

Office: 616-656-5163
PCS:    616-706-2438
Fax:    616-554-6484
Web: www.ipcswirelessinc.com

-----Original Message-----
From: mapguide-users-bounces at lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:mapguide-users-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Jason Birch
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 4:05 PM
To: MapGuide Users Mail List
Subject: RE: [mapguide-users] Differences between UMN MapServer &
MapGuide...

I guess I should ask what your reasons for considering moving away from
MapServer are.  What needs do you have that it is not meeting?

They both certainly have their strengths and weaknesses, but I don't
know if any recent in-depth analysis of the differences.

Jason
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