Ya, MapServer is cgi (or fastcgi). So it doesn't hold data in memory like ArcGIS Server does. Also, each MapServer session (since its cgi) is independent of each other so there is no service to go down. As long as Apache is running, so is MapServer.
I find that MapServer scales much better for large numbers of request and multiple maps. ArcGIS Server does well with smaller data sets and less services (due to ram issues). ArcGIS server can be faster to start with, since you are composing your maps graphically, but I find the MapServer mapfile editing much (much) faster for repetitive operations. I can script and copy/paste and (with includes) reuse more styling. With ArcGIS Server, for anything other that setting basic colors, I find it much slower and quite tedious. I find that MapServer works at small or large scale, I run into issues with ArcGIS server at large scales (lots of data and lots of services). Then there is the fact that ArcGIS will change on you over time and the whole architecture can go away and any time. In the time we have been doing MapServer (coming up on 12 years now), ESRI has gone through 6 different (and incompatible) web mapping engines. Our mapserver stuff still works. Something to think about when you are in it for the long haul. Also, when something critical has come up and I need a fix NOW, I have both made my own code changes and requested fixes from the community and had responses within hours (sometimes minutes). That is just not possible with ArcGIS Server. MapServer has a truly impressive community with both enthusiasts and mature business providing development and support (MapGears and Gateway Geomatics are two that I am very familiar with and they are top notch). We are a government agency and MapServer is production code for us, for over a decade. And we serve out a lot of data with it. Mike -- Michael Smith US Army Corps Remote Sensing GIS/Center On 7/3/12 8:50 PM, "Wang, Ya" <ya.w...@vta.org> wrote: >Hello All, > >I am wondering if any of you have experience with both MapServer and >ArcGIS server. How does MapServer compare with ArcGIS server? Besides the >fact that MapServer is more customizable and more extensible and less >expensive, what other advantages do MapServer have against ArcGIS server? > > > >Thanks in advance! > >Ya > > >_______________________________________________ >mapserver-users mailing list >mapserver-users@lists.osgeo.org >http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-users _______________________________________________ mapserver-users mailing list mapserver-users@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-users