Five Steps to Better Performance Continued from page 47 3. Where was the MSD automatically saved on the GIS server? Open Windows Explorer on the GIS server machine (the machine where the server object manager [SOM] component is installed) and navigate to ..\ arcgisserver\arcgisinput. Notice an MSD file, with the same name as the ArcMap document used to publish it, is present. The MSD located in the arcgisinput folder is automatically accessible to the server object container (SOC) account and is linked to the published map service. If the service is deleted, so is the MSD. 4. Open ArcCatalog and expand the administrative connection to the GIS server. Preview the new map service and note how fast it displays. 5. Before building a cache for the map service, it is important to understand how the image format property of the cache impacts the quality of cached tiles. Read the ArcGIS Server help topic "Publishing services" under Caching services > Map Caches (2D) > The caching process > Choosing cache properties to gain a better understanding of image formats. 6. The steps to design and create a cache are beyond the scope of this article. For information on designing a cached map service, see "Providing the Best User Experience: Answers to questions about map caching for ArcGIS Server" in the Winter 2009 issue of ArcUser magazine, which is available online at www.esri.com/ news/arcuser/0109/map_caching.html. 7. Publishing a map service directly from ArcMap is only one option. Traditional publishing workflows can also be used for both MSD- and MXD-based services. The only difference is that with an MSD-based service, the MSD is saved using the Save Map Service Definition tool on the Map Service Publishing toolbar before using ArcCatalog or ArcGIS Server Manager to publish the file to ArcGIS Server. The steps in this section yield a basemap service that has been cached and is based on an optimized MSD and at least one operational service that is either served dynamically or cached. If the operational service is n Served dynamically and only used for mapping, the service will be based on an MSD n Served dynamically and used for analyical capabilities, the service will be based on an MXD Typically, the cached data behind the operational service will change infrequently. Although data can be served dynamically with acceptable performance using tools and configuration new to ArcGIS 9.3.1, best performance will still be reliably achieved from cached map services. Step Five Visualize basemap and operational services in a Web application By organizing the map services into base and operational layers and optimizing the layers prior to and after publishing (caching), the maps in the Web application will be intuitive for the audience and exhibit acceptable performance. To appreciate how this works, assemble the services in a Web mapping application created using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript. Follow the steps in the article "Add a Map to a Web Page in Three Simple Steps—Getting started with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript" from the Winter 2009 issue of ArcUser (available online at www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0109/ files/3steps.pdf). The steps in this article will 48 ArcUser Summer 2009 r www.esri.com