Cloud computing provides benefits for spatial data infrastructures like Switzerland's FSDI. Swisstopo migrated the FSDI to use cloud computing infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to focus on its core business instead of managing IT resources. This allowed for faster innovation, cost reduction compared to owning physical servers, flexibility to rapidly scale resources up or down, and improved security and availability compared to managing its own data centers. Swisstopo now runs the FSDI on over 100 cloud servers in the public cloud.

1. armasuisse
Federal Office of Topography swisstopo
COSIG
Cloud Computing for Spatial
Data Infrastructure
4 years experience by swisstopo
Eurogeographics Webinar – 2.10.2012
Cédric Moullet

2. Top News !
The European Union made a
move on Thursday to get its foot
in the cloud computing door,
saying it could deliver 2.5 million
new jobs to Europe.
redOrbit (http://s.tt/1oy8v)
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3. Federal Office of Topography
swisstopo
• Federal Geo-Information center
• 321 employees
• Producer of the swiss national maps
• Operator of the swiss Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
(FSDI)
• Provider of about 80 geoservices and web mapping
applications federated under «geo.admin.ch: the
geoportal of the Swiss Confederation»
www.swisstopo.admin.ch – www.geo.admin.ch
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4. Agenda
• What is cloud computing ?
• Cloud Computing Benefits
• The Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Cloud Computing and FSDI
• Questions
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5. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
Let’s use a simple analogy
Say you just moved
to a city, and you’re
looking for
a place to live
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6. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
You can either
Build a house or
Rent an apartment
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7. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
If you build a house, there are a few
important decisions you have to make…
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8. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
How big is the house?
are you planning to grow a large family?
Remodel, addition typically cost a
lot more once the house is built
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9. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
But, you get a chance to customize it
flooring
tile windows
Roof floor plan
lighting
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landscaping
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10. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
Once the house is built,
you’re responsible for maintenance
Pay property tax
Hire Landscaper
Water
Plumber Electrician Electricity
Heating and Cooling Gutter Cleaning
House Keeping
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11. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
How about renting ?
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12. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
Consider a builder in your city builds
a massive number of
apartment units
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13. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
A unit can easily be converted
into a 2,3,4 or more units
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14. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
You make a fewer,
simpler
decisions
You can start with
one unit and grow
later, or
downsize
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15. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
But…
You do not have
a lot of options to
customize your unit
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16. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
triple pane windows
green materials
high capacity electricity
high speed Internet
However, builders provide you with
very high quality infrastructure
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17. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
No need to worry about maintenance cost
No need to Hire landscapers,
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electricians, plumbers 17
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18. Slides stolen from «I’m cloud confused»
Pay as You Go
Just pay your rent
and utilities
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19. What is cloud computing ?
Cloud computing is the use of computing resources
(hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over
a network (typically the Internet).
Wikipedia
Cloud Computing is a new way of delivering computing
resources, not a new technology.
European Network and Information Security Agency, Cloud Computing, 2009
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20. Main cloud computing models
Software as Service (SaaS)
Software as a service, sometimes referred to as "on-demand software", is a software
delivery model in which software and associated data are centrally hosted on
the cloud.
Wikipedia
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a service (PaaS) is a service that provide a computing platform
and a solution stack (database, web server etc..) as a service.
Wikipedia
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service is a provision model in which an organization
outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage,
hardware, servers and networking components.
Search Cloud Computing
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21. Main cloud computing models
Desktop and business applications
SaaS
Software platform to host cloud based enterprise applications
PaaS
Servers, storage
IaaS
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22. Cloud Computing
Buying services instead
of buying hardware and
software
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23. Cloud Computing deployment models
Public cloud
Public cloud applications, storage, and other resources are made available to
the general public by a service provider.
Community cloud
Community cloud shares
infrastructure between several
organizations from a specific community with
common concerns (security, compliance, jurisdiction, etc.), whether managed
internally or by a third-party and hosted internally or externally.
Private cloud
Private cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single
organization, whether managed internally or by a third-party and
hosted internally or externally.
Hybrid cloud
Hybrid cloud is a composition of two or more clouds
(private, community or public) that are bound together.
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24. Cloud Computing
IT as a service !
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25. Hype Cycle for cloud computing
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26. Agenda
• What is cloud computing ?
• Cloud Computing Benefits
• The Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Cloud Computing and FSDI
• Questions
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27. Elastic Capacity
• Scaling up and … down in minutes
• No provision
• Use only ressources that you need
• Manage unepected peaks (slashdots effects)
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28. Elastic Capacity
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29. Elastic Capacity
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30. Elastic Capacity
Traditional IT Cloud Computing
Server number Server number
Success breakdown
Performance limit
Load
Overcapacity
Overcapacity
Load
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31. Elastic Capacity
Source
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32. Quick deployment
• No more IT Infrastructure barrier
• Instantaneous provisioning
• Shorter development cycles
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33. No initial investment
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34. Pay for what you use
• CPU per hours
• Gigabyte (storage and transfer) per month
• Turn on/off ressources
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35. IT Infrastructure as API
• IT Infrastructure is automated
• Focus on you business
• Reuse, not reinvent the wheel
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36. Agenda
• What is cloud computing ?
• Cloud computing benefits
• The Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Cloud computing and FSDI
• Questions
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37. 60-80%
OF ALL DECISIONS TAKEN
IN OUR WORLD CAN BE
RELATED TO GEOINFORMATION
Coopers and Lybrand, 1996
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38. SWISS LAW
Federal Act on Geoinformation (GeoIG), 1. July 2008
Art. 1 Aim
This Act has the aim of ensuring that geodata relating to the territory of
the Swiss Confederation is made available for general use to the
authorities of the Confederation, the cantons and communes, the private
sector, the public and to academic and scientific institutions in a
sustainable, up-to-date, rapid and easy manner, in the required
quality and at a reasonable cost.
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39. National Map
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40. Aerial Imagery
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41. TLM
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42. Cadastral Web Map
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43. Addresses
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44. swissALTI3D
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45. Aeronautical Chart
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46. Land Occupancy
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47. Road Traffic Noise
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48. Historical Routes
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49. Dufour Map
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50. Siegfried Map
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51. 166
layers available
On 23.9.2012
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52. on mobile, too ;-)
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53. KML Import
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54. Measure
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55. Profile
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56. WMS Import
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57. Drawing
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58. Print
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59. API
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60. 1 portail
5 languages
100 servers
166 datasets
500 MB/s bandwidth
1’300 tiles /s
50’000 visits/day
1’500’000’000 tiles
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61. Thanks to Cloud Computing
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62. Agenda
• What is cloud computing ?
• Cloud computing benefits
• The Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Cloud computing and FSDI
• Questions
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63. Cloud Computing & FSDI: IaaS Model
swisstopo’s choice
Infrastructure Platform Software
Traditional
as a Service as a Service as a Service
(On Premise)
(IaaS) (PaaS) (SaaS)
Apps& Services Apps & Services Applications Applications
VM VM Services Services
Server Server Server Server
Storage Storage Storage Storage
Network Network Network Network
Organization has Organization shares control Cloud Provider has
control and bears and responsibility with Cloud control and bears
responsibility Provider responsibility
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64. Cloud Computing & FSDI: History
January 2008
Request for the map application of «SchweizMobil»
April 2008
Go-Live «SchweizMobil v.1» (Cluster with 1 phys. nnd 3 EC2 Servers with AWS … BETA)
July 2008
Federal act on Geoinformation (GeoIG)
February 2009
Start of the migration of FSDI (8 Servers) in Public Cloud
March 2009
Go-Live «SchweizMobil v.2» (Cluster with 10 EC2 Servers)
August 2010
Go-Live «geo.admin.ch: the geoportal of the Swiss Confederation»
January 2011
Finalization of the migration of the FSDI in Public Cloud (60 EC2 Servers, 100 TB)
September 2011
«geo.admin.ch» goes mobile!
September 2012
Trafic record, 100 EC2 servers
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65. Why cloud computing ?
Boost innovation
• Offer services that were previously not
implementable (…bandwidth of 500 MB/s)
• «Start 10 servers …in 10 minutes … and stop
them 10 minutes later»
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66. Why cloud computing ?
Focus on your business
• Rent IT ressources, don’t manage them
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67. Why cloud computing ?
Cost Reduction
• From 25’000 EUR/server to 6000 EUR/server
8 physical servers: 200’000 EUR/year (maintenance + investition costs)
100 cloud servers: 600’000 EUR/year (maintenance + investition costs)
• No investition cost
• Infrastructure is never obsolete
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68. Why cloud computing ?
Flexibility
• Generate millions of tiles in one night
• Adapt infrastructure to customer usage
• FSDI can be hosted on whatever cloud provider
(thanks to automation and OpenSource)
• Faster time to market. An IT ressource is «only»
an API call.
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69. Why cloud computing ?
Improve security
• Compliance with high security standards (ISO
27001, SOC 1/SSAE 16/ISAE 3402 etc…)
• Automation allows faster patching
• Data centers are located on several places
worldwide. Possibility to use various locations
• Big players will not play with security. It’s the
hearth of their business, and not of your
business.
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70. Why cloud computing ?
Improve availability
99.95 % availability
(24/24 – 7/7) in 2012
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71. Why cloud computing ?
Improve customer services
• No slashdot effect
• New services are implementable in weeks
• React fast to customer requests
• No downtime (…almost: status.geo.admin.ch)
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72. Keep in mind
• Cloud offers are not standardized. Cloud API’s
are not standardized. -> Provider dependency
has to be evaluated.
• Be careful with private and sensitive data. ->
Hybrid cloud has to be evaluated
• You still need sysadmins to manage your IT.
• Usually, the current applications have to be
migrated to the cloud in order to use it efficiently
(clustering, load balancing etc…).
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73. CONCLUSION
"FSDI customers and visitors benefit of a
performing and flexible spatial data infrastructure
based on public cloud computing"
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74. THANK YOU
www.geo.admin.ch
map.geo.admin.ch
api.geo.admin.ch
info@geo.admin.ch
Twitter: @swiss_geoportal
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75. Agenda
• What is cloud computing ?
• Cloud computing benefits
• The Federal Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Cloud computing and FSDI
• Questions
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