Hmm. :) You could do a lot without ripping and replacing MapServer by introducing OpenLayers and something like TileCache into your environment. You may want to look at Fusion or MapFish (both of which encapsulate OpenLayers) for a development framework. The nice thing about Fusion is that it's intended to be cross-platform, supporting both MapGuide and MapServer, which would make migration less painful if you did decide to move in the future. The not-so-nice thing is that it's not really available publicly outside of the MapGuide build yet, though there is apparently a plan to move it onto OSGeo infrastructure shortly.
Although I don't have any direct experience with MapServer, I am not convinced that you would see better performance with MapGuide than with MapServer if your sole concern is displaying maps. The implementation of a tile caching solution (either MapGuide-native or TileCache) will give you far more bang-for-the-buck if it's done right. Strengths and weaknesses... There was a thread at SlashGeo on this subject last year. Both applications have come a long way since then, but a lot of the comments are still valid. http://industry.slashgeo.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/07/183222 Regardless of the platform you choose, competing with Google Maps is difficult. Jason -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nolte, Tim Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 13:24 To: MapGuide Users Mail List Subject: RE: [mapguide-users] Differences between UMN MapServer & MapGuide... I guess what I am looking for is what are the strengths and weaknesses of both. Basically our MapServer currently serves both Shapefiles (39 layers) & Oracle Spatial (11 layers) data. My biggest concern is user-perceived performance. Our current server config is a 3.06GHz Opteron w/ 8GB of RAM. I've tried to tune our data as best I can however I'm still concerned about the end-user perceived performance. As most people are, I'm up against people expecting our MapServer to perform with the same speed as Google Maps. I'm also looking for something with a very visually polished development framework. I know that looks aren't everything but it does offer some credibility to the information being presented. Thanks for any input anyone has. - Tim ---- Timothy J Nolte - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Associate Network Planning Engineer iPCS Wireless, Inc. 4717 Broadmoor Ave, Suite G Kentwood, MI 49512 Office: 616-656-5163 PCS: 616-706-2438 Fax: 616-554-6484 Web: www.ipcswirelessinc.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jason Birch Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 4:05 PM To: MapGuide Users Mail List Subject: RE: [mapguide-users] Differences between UMN MapServer & MapGuide... I guess I should ask what your reasons for considering moving away from MapServer are. What needs do you have that it is not meeting? They both certainly have their strengths and weaknesses, but I don't know if any recent in-depth analysis of the differences. Jason _______________________________________________ mapguide-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users _______________________________________________ mapguide-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users
