What is it:
The GISToolkitServer is a simple Web Map Server (WMS),
based on the OGC web map service specification. It is not compliant
with the specification, thought it is very close. Most client software
probably not be able to tell the difference.
Administration:
Administration of the GISToolkitServer is very easy as
it provides a web based interface for that purpose. All configuration
is stored on the server, and the configuration can be added from the web interface.
Data sources, can be added dynamically, and colors and shading can
be updated without requiring a down time for maintenance.
Performance:
All maps are generated within the web server, in separate
threads. For this reason, the map server will scale well across multiple
processors, though there is no current consideration for scaling across multiple
servers.
Access:
The web server can be accessed using HTTP Get requiests
over a tcpip network. There are currently several applications that
use Tomcat along side the GISToolkitServer to provide added functionality
around the maps provided by this server. The standard WMS clients can
access this server over the network, or the GISToolkitServer provides a simple
client as part of the package.
The web server provides the following datasources:
ESRI Shape File
PostGIS database
DB2 Spatial Extender Database
ImageFile for image layers.
Turnkey Solution:
The GISServer though very simple at the moment should
provide a good and easy starting point for providing maps using the OGC interface,
or the built in client.