1. Matt Eitrem
GIS Coordinator
City of Ashland, Wisconsin

2. Matt Eitrem, GIS Coordinator since 2008
City GIS Program since 2003
Focus on Public Works and Utility Data
Development
Utilizing ArcGIS Server since 2010
Spring of 2012 signed a SUELA with ESRI

3. Utility crew were issued Verizon Android tablets
Needed access to GIS mapping in the field ASAP
Users were accustomed to rich intranet web mapping
IT issues and barriers to running our own server
After a phone call to the ever friendly folks at ESRI, I
decided to look into hosting an Amazon cloud server
for pushing our utility info out to the field crews.
Within a week we had an Amazon EC2 server setup
and serving map services to three Android tablets
using the ArcGIS for Android app.

4. Documentation Research and Testing

5. Documentation Research and Testing

6. EC2 Pricing

7. EC2 Cost Estimating

8. EC2 Dashboard

9. Click Launch Instance
Request AMI sharing from ESRI Customer Services

10. Select your region and availability zones
Create and download a key pair file
Configure security groups and add security rules
Click Launch and wait about five minutes
Verify the instance is ready and wait another five mins

11. Instance Management
Generates RDP File
Key Pair Validation

12. Amazon API Tools – Java command line tools
Configure Local System to run API tools
Set a few environment variables-
%Java_Home%, %EC2_HOME%, %AWS_ACCESS_KEY%,
% EC2_URL % - https://ec2.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
Blogs.esri.com-Intro to Scripting Amazon EC2
Daily Startup and Shutdown Window Scheduler
Run as service-no logon req. Separate account

13. Android Mobile applications

14. Authorize ArcMap and Server (Workgroup)

15. Getting data to the EC2 Instance for free
Dropbox(2-5GB) MS SkyDrive(25GB)
Slick User Interface
Can run as service
Handles Large Files >2GB
Bit for Bit File Compare
Great for small changes
to larger files
Buggy Interface
File size limit of <2GB
Full file copy when changed
Great for large file sets like
image cache’s or large
numbers of ref docs

16. Weekly File Geodatabase updates workflow
One-way Sync Model

17. Weekly File Geodatabase updates workflow
Copy to Dropbox Model

18. Weekly File Geodatabase updates workflow
EC2 StopStart Services Script

19. Weekly File Geodatabase updates workflow
Set Dropbox.exe to run as a service

20. Map service publishing on EC2 is pretty much
the same as it would be locally.
Work within the constraints of the Instance

21. Set up Geodatabase replication to EC2
1. Extract and move data to EC2
2. Publish geodata service
3. Synchronize data changes
Publish Feature Service

22. 1. Extract and move data to EC2
Extract dataset to an xml workspace document
Transfer xml file to EC2 with Dropbox
Create SQL GDB on EC2
Import xml workspace

23. 2. Publish a geodata service
Save GDB connection *.sde file to folder with
ArcSOC user permissions.
From ArcCatalog publish geodata service from
saved GDB connection file
Enable replication on published geodata service
Default Location
C:Users<name>AppDataRoaming
ESRIDesktop10.0ArcCatalog
ArcSOC Location
D:GISDataConnections

24. 3. Synchronize data changes through the service
Create local GIS server connection to EC2
EC2
Server
connection
Create replica on source GDB using option to
register existing data

25. Author and Publish Feature Services
Scripting Synchronization
Synchronize Changes Tool
Synchronization Conflicts
Export / Import Change Messages
Software bugs
Failed geodata service startup
Host name and IP configuration

26. Authored web maps using EC2 services
Used HTML Arcgis.com map viewer
Shared web maps through private groups
Setup accounts for Android tablets and shared
the groups.

27. Recent changes to private group sharing and
Arcgis Online for Organizations

28. Missed spring hydrant flushing
Tree Inventory Updates
Contractor declined using Android app.
Fall hydrant flushing success
Instant operational awareness for FD
Utility Locates
Diggers Hotline requests sped up
Repairs and Installs Documentation
Locations recorded
Recent retirees

29. Small Amazon Instances can be useful for light
weight focused applications at a low cost.($45)
Balancing the capabilities of the EC2 machine
with appropriate services and loads.
Leveraging your enterprise licensing to extend
your reach.
The fun of pushing technology to its limits and
working through issues.