What is SkylineGlobe Server
SkylineGlobe Server (SGS) 7 is a private cloud solution that provides a comprehensive set of web services for publishing, storing, managing and streaming 3D spatial data. SkylineGlobe Server provides streaming services for all your spatial data types including terrain (MPT/TBP), map (raster-WMS/WMTS), feature (WFS/WFS-T), 3D Mesh (3DML, OGC 3D Tiles, I3S/SLPK), and point cloud (CPT, OGC 3D Tiles). All data on your server is cataloged and referenced so clients can easily find the specific published layer required. Your data is kept safe by multiple security layers, including restriction of each user group to predefined data folders and a robust user authentication mechanism. For more information about each of SkylineGlobe Server’s data services see the following sections in this chapter:
§ What is the DirectConnect Service
§ What is the 3D Mesh Service (3DML)
§ What is the Point Cloud Service
§ What is TerraExplorer Fusion (TEF)
SkylineGlobe Server can be configured as a single server or as part of a new or existing server cluster. A server cluster is a collection of servers sharing a single license that communicate with each other in order to serve data to clients with higher availability. In order to communicate, all servers in the cluster must share a common configuration database that is located on a shared drive and have required permissions to all folders that are used by SGS to share data or store cache files. A server cluster is a collection of servers, behind a load balancer, that communicate with each other in order to serve data to clients with higher availability.
While all SkylineGlobe Servers can support a very large number of concurrent users, there is an upper limit of clients that can stream data from SkylineGlobe Server concurrently that is defined in each SGS license. Any client that attempts to connect to SkylineGlobe Server once the maximum number has been reached will be denied access. When working with a server cluster, this value is the total number of users accessing any of the servers in the cluster, with the load balancer determining how to distribute the users between the servers.
Based on Microsoft IIS Server, SkylineGlobe Server repackages the retired TerraGate and SFS products into a unified server technology and management interface from which to control and manage the complete 3D geospatial data lifecycle. See "What is the SkylineGlobe Server Manager" in this chapter for more information.
Individual geospatial layers and complete projects can be directly uploaded and published to the cloud server from TerraExplorer or other Skyline client applications, thus streamlining your workflow and eliminating the need for any server side login after initial installation. Through a single publishing operation, data is made ready for consumption by all TerraExplorer clients: Desktop, Mobile, and TerraExplorer Fusion, as well as standard geospatial applications. Server-side geospatial layers that are stored in existing data stores on the server can also be published by scanning their data stores and publishing selected layers.
SkylineGlobe Server is compliant with the following OpenGIS Implementation Specifications:
§ OpenGIS® Web Feature Service (WFS 1.0.0 and 1.1.0) Implementation Specification
§ OpenGIS® Web Feature Service Transactions (WFS-T 1.0.0 and 1.1.0) Implementation Specification
§ OpenGIS® Web Map Service (WMS 1.1.1 and 1.3.0) Implementation Specification
§ OpenGIS® Web Map Tiling Service (WMTS 1.0.0) Implementation Specification
SkylineGlobe Server Features:
§ 3D data streaming over private networks or the Internet
§ Optimized for low-bandwidth conditions
§ Designed for easy scalability
§ Uses TCP/IP protocols. Enable SSL (Secure Socket Layer)/TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol
§ Takes full advantage of multi-processor and multi-core server hardware
§ Efficient handling of massive data sets
§ Creates a cache on the server for high-performance streamed data.
§ Scalable to serve out data to a large number of users (SGS cluster).
§ Optimized to handle a high number of requests per server.
§ Web-based management system to define the data sources, layers, and cache settings. Efficient handling of massive databases. No size limitation.