Company supports RSIMS web-based facilities management system

Server migration, database design, and utility programming facilitate administration

EDDINGTON, ME - The U.S. Navy Public Works Center (PWC) in Yokosuka, Japan welcomed Mannion Geosystems on-site this January as part of a team of professionals supporting the Regional Shore Installation Management System (RSIMS). Working through prime contractor LJT & Associates, Inc. of Columbia, MD (www.ljt.com), Mannion Geosystems provided ArcSDE and Oracle system management for databases serving ArcGIS Desktop and ArcIMS users, both in Yokosuka and across Japan and the Pacific.

RSIMS is a web-based reporting tool that allows Navy personnel to query and analyze facilities information for shore installations using an interactive map. Behind the browser client is a group of Oracle databases, including several geodatabases, which maintain and serve the spatial and related tabular information.

"RSIMS is an excellent example of how an enterprise GIS should work" says Michael Mannion, Mannion Geosystems' DBA for this project. "It integrates diverse data content and formats from across the organization and presents them in an intuitive manner so decision makers can focus on the task at hand, instead of on the software."

Mannion Geosystems contributed to the recent support effort by supplying technical expertise for an ongoing upgrade of the database hardware, and to automate data and database maintenance tasks.

Continuing a process that began in late 2003, the company reconfigured two database servers--one for versioned geodatabase editing and one for tabular reporting. To take full advantage of the available hardware, this work included a RAID subsystem and corresponding physical geodatabase design, as well as specific operating system and Oracle memory configurations for Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

A second goal of the project was to streamline database administration. To reduce the burden of routine ArcSDE geodatabase maintenance, Mannion Geosystems programmed a pair of Oracle PL/SQL packages for managing security, storage, and performance. In addition, Mannion designed a new disconnected editing workflow to facilitate integrating data updates from remote sites into the centralized RSIMS geodatabase.

"The net result of this work should be improved performance with less management" Mannion said. "We are looking forward to seeing how this improves day-to-day operations."

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