I’ve been really busy lately, but after seeing a couple hundred posts on Windows Live Writer, I had to try it out.

It’s nice and easy to install, and natively supports “dasBlog” – not specific about which version though. I’m running 1.8.5223, which is the latest release from what I can tell. And while WLW picks up the theme, and lets me do all kinds of neat stuff with images and maps, unfortunately, it throws an error when I publish…

This is not exactly useful, but it appears to be an issue with the Blogger API – either who WLW is trying to use it, or how WLW is calling it. The net result is that I can’t use it. Oh well, I’ve been surviving using w.bloggar and the on-line editor.

Apparently it also supports Community Server, so when I find some time, maybe I’ll see if it works for ArcDeveloper.net.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of working with Dave Peters – ESRI’s System Architecture and Design guru. Many of you have likely read (or skimmed) the
System Design Strategies document which Dave authors, and been excited and/ or overwhelmed with the volume of information. We had Dave join me on site at  the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry to help plan for the implementation of an enterprise system we are building for the state.

System Design Planning
As part of these meetings, Dave showed us a preview of his new Capacity Planning tool. This tool takes all the logic and models from his testing and puts it into a very usable spreadsheet (which may become a .NET app). This tool allows you to quickly plug in the number of various types of users (local desktop, terminal server, ArcIMS, ArcGIS Server etc), and then calculates the expected load based on benchmark testing. It calculates both the server CPU load and the network load (megabits per second, per user). The network load is an aspect that I had not considered, but it makes sense: adding a faster ArcSDE server will not make a difference if you’re network has no extra capacity!

Once the load is determined, it uses data imported from Spec.org (hardware performance testing group) which allows you to specify particular hardware configurations on which to run the system, and then it show the expected maximum load on that hardware. If you underspec the hardware – as in the max load is > 100% of the capacity – it lets you know. The simplification of this information, and the integration of the Spec data makes informed capacity planning a possibility for many more organizations (those without a full time hardware performance guru).

Upgrade Planning
What’s really cool is that once the system is in place, and you are collecting actual metrics (as opposed to the model driven default values) you can adjust the parameters in the spreadsheet, making it more accurate. Then, as your user load or needs change, you can go back to this tool, load in new Spec.org infor, and make informed decisions re: the actual improvements you’ll see by upgrading hardware or network capacity.

It was really great to have a one-on-one walk-through of all of this, followed up with his presentation to the whole group. Of course not everyone is going to get this opportunity. The good news is that Dave is going to present this tool and his latest performance benchmarking next week at the User Conference.

So – if you are in any way responsible for your GIS hardware or network, I highly recommend attending his talks.

ArcGIS System Administration: Choosing the Right Architecture
Wed Aug 9, 1:30 – 2:45pm – Cardiff Room, Marriott
Thu Aug 10, 3:15 – 4:30pm – Cardiff Room, Marriott

Enterprise GIS: Design & System Configuration Strategies
Wed Aug 9, 3:15 – 4:30pm – Room 15A