I thought it would have been worth spending a few minutes to let people know about this development that we are performing at GeoSolutions. Being not only GeoServer developers but also GeoServer hungry users, we have been a bit unpleased in the past some the scalability problems that it was showing due to the fact that:

1. GeoServer was keeping all its configuration into memory

2. GeoServer was making use XML files to handle its internal configuration

Now a lot of work has been lately for the upcoming 2.0 version of GeoServer, to cope with point 2 above, however point 2 has not been touched yet. If you use GeoServer the way we use it, with thousand of layers and with 10 to 100 new layers added daily (usually remote sensing data), you might agree with us that we need to:

1. Not load and keep the entire configuration in memory

2. Use a database to store the configuration

In a few words, we need to improve scalability and robustness while tring to not jeopardize performance, we need to be enterprise-ready.

At GeoSolutions we have decided to tackle this problems by implementing a new GeoServer internal catalog that leverages on Hibernate as its persistence engine and that would also not bring the whole configuration into memory. Our goal is to be able to support at least Postgis and Oracle as the target database, but as you know, many more are supported by Hibernate (spatialite wi  ontheradar as well). The range of features that this work would open up is pretty wide, just think about using Hibernate distributed caching, simplified GeoServer replication, etc., etc.

The work is in progress, we have started to describe the details on the GeoServer wiki . If you are interesting in supporting somehow (funding or human resources) this effort, please, drop me a few lines at simone.giannecchiniATgeo-solutions.it.

We have been using JBoss extensively in the last two years in order deploy GeoServer along with some custom extensions as well as a few other proprietary application. Lately we have started to experiment a bit with JBoss 5.x and since people seem to have problems deplying GeoServer in it weput together a post on our compay blog (see here) with some basic instructions on how to deploy GeoServer 1.7.6 inside JBoss 5.1.

If you you need help wrestling with JBoss, feel free to contact us!

GeoServer can now add one more language of support to its ever growing list. Kevin Yang has created a web forum for GeoServer users in Chinese. Here is his welcome message. Stop on by and say 你好!

The GeoServer Team would like to announce that GeoServer 2.0 is now out of beta and has moved into Release Candidate status.

In case you haven’t been following our previous posts, GeoServer 2.0 contains a completely redesigned user interface, using Wicket. Based on feedback from our beta testers, the move to RC1 consisted mainly of user interface improvements. One specific new feature to point out is that ArcSDE stores have a better configuration panel, one that simplifies requests to raster coverages.

With 55 issues fixed, this first Release Candidate is deemed stable by the GeoServer Team. But we need your help to verify this, so please download this new version and try it out.

N.B. If you wish to connect GeoServer 2.0 to your existing data directory (from 1.7.x), beware that GeoServer 2.0 changes the directory structure a bit, so should you wish to switch back to 1.7.x, you will need to hand edit some files.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with this release! Keep sending that feedback in. Assuming no large problems are found, we should have an official release in the next month or two.

CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship and its partner AuScope are conducting a nationwide workshop to showcase the new technologies available to the geoscience community to access data about the Australian landscape. The AuScope Web Services Roadshow is visiting every state geological survey in Australia.

AuScope is helping to build an e-research infrastructure to federate nationally distributed data sets and develop tools to manipulate large data volumes. In collaboration with the geological surveys it is also setting up an Australian Geoscience Information Network. This network will provide the “glue” that enables the major geoscience and geospatial data stores of the government agencies to link with academic and industry communities and their applications. The Roadshow is showcasing a collection of tools as part of the Geoscience Information Network AuScope is building - which includes GeoServer with Application Schema support.

“The Australian Geoscience Information Network uses a coordinated cross-capability approach to resolving the data integration problem,” CSIRO Minerals Down Under Project Leader Ryan Fraser said. “The result is an integrated Community Earth Model which is can be accessed via the AuScope Discovery Portal and obtains its data live from the original custodians.”

The Roadshow workshop is designed to provide participants a clear idea of what they need to do to establish data services that suit their requirements. “The Roadshow will showcase the integrated Community Earth Model,” Mr Fraser said. “It will also show how the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) funded AuScope Ltd is establishing an Australian Geoscience Information Network to provide transparent access to computational tools and data and knowledge about the Australian landscape.”

For further details please contact: Ryan Fraser, CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship, AuScope Grid E:Ryan.Fraser@csiro.au Ph:08 6436 8780

Robert Woodcock. CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship, AuScope Grid E:Robert.Woodcock@csiro.au Ph:08 6436 8760

Bruce Simons Geoscience Victoria E:Bruce.simons@dpi.vic.gov.au