About the SWITCH-ON SIP Software Distribution
The SWITCH-ON Spatial Information Platform Software Distribution
is an auto-updateable and easy installable software package of
SWITCH-ON Backend Services and Client Components. Together with
the respective Docker
Images and Volumes
it represents a powerful tool for operations and maintenance of
the SWITCH-ON Spatial Information Platform.
Key benefits
The key benefits of the docker-based SWITCH-ON SIP Software
Distribution are
- Portability
The SIP's server and client components as well as all
required dependencies (e.g. the Java Runtime Environment)
are bundled into a single docker image that is independent
from a particular server (e.g. hardware configuration,
operation system and software environment). The image can be
transferred to any server that runs docker in a recent
version and can be instantiated as docker container while
the actual host-specific configuration (logging, database
URLs, local paths) is injected from a local volume.
- Version control
Not only the source code of the various SIP building blocks
hosted on github
is version controlled but also the SIP Software
Distribution images hosted on dockerhub.
So it's easily possible to roll-back to a previous version
of the SIP with a different SWITCH-ON
Docker Image and/or to use a previous configuration
from a version controlled SWITCH-ON
Docker Volume.
- Rapid deployment
Thanks to the the docker-based approach, the SIP can be
deployed on new servers without the need to perform
complicated setup and installation tasks.
- Instant updates
The SIP
Software Distribution can be updated automatically
when a new release is available , so bugfixes and new
features can be made available to end users almost
instantly.
- Low entry hurdle
The entry hurdle for operating the SWITCH-ON SIP
Software Distribution is significantly lower than
setting up the SIP from its distinct building blocks.
Systems administrators can install and maintain the SIP
without knowledge of its internals, components or
interdependencies.
- Isolation
The docker-based approach ensures that the SIP is isolated
and segregated from other application running on the same
machine. Even different version of the SIP Meta-Data
Repository
Building blocks and architecture
The SWITCH-ON SIP Software Distribution consist of the
following building blocks:
cids-distribution-switchon
This is the core of the SIP Software Distribution. It bundles
the different cids-based
components of the SIP (among others the SIP
Expert Catalogue Management APIs and the SIP
Expert Catalogue and Data Management GUI) into a
auto-updateable software package.
Reporting Problems
Please report any problems or bugs related to the SIP Expert
Catalogue Management Java API by using the GitHub
Issue Tracker.