What is ArcGIS Server

/*As an executive, you are presented with a high volume of complex data every day. GIS helps you作为一个主管人员，你每天面对着大量的复杂数据*/
ArcGIS Server allows you to share your GIS resources资源 across an enterprise企业 and across the Web. GIS resources are the maps, globes, address locators, geodatabases, and tools that you want to share with others. You share these resources by hosting them on your ArcGIS Server system, or GIS server, and allowing client applications to use and interact 交互with the resources. The main advantages of sharing your GIS resources on a GIS server are the same as sharing any data through any kind of server technology: the data is centrally managed,集中管理 supports multiple users支持多用户, and provides clients with the most up-to-date information.并且提供给用户最新的信息

You might ask, why do I need a GIS server for this, wouldn't any server technology work? In addition to除了 providing access to particular GIS resources, the GIS server also provides access to the GIS functionality功能 that the resource contains. For example, you might be able to share a map with someone through a server, but it would be even better if that person could also interact with the map, like find the closest hospital, restaurant, or bank and get directions to it from their location. Thus, the GIS server not only allows you to share resources, like maps, but also to access the GIS functionality embedded in them.并且还能访问其中嵌套的GIS功能

How people use the GIS resources on the server depends on who they are. Some people will be fully aware of GIS servers and also of the particular resources on a given server because they need to use them directly. For example, a GIS analyst 分析者might author 编辑a map that contains a layer图层 that references指向 a map resource on a GIS server. Or a developer开发者 might build a Web application that uses a map and an address locator定位 器to schedule and route delivery trucks.规定运输卡车的时间和路线

For other people, the details about GIS servers and GIS resources will be completely hidden. For example, the members of a city council 委员会might explore a map through a Web application--for instance, finding locations suitable for redevelopment--before they make a decision that affects the community社区 they live in. For them, the Web application simply provides the tools and information to help them make their decision. The fact that the Web application 应用程序they're using to explore the map is accessing访问 a particular map resource hosted on a GIS server保存在GIS服务器上 is of no concern to them

Today it is commonplace常见的 to see maps or other geographic information 地理信息integrated seamlessly完美结合 into Web sites. ArcGIS Server helps you put your geographic information on the Web, whether you need an application that simply displays a map or a more sophisticated尖端的 one that incorporates specialized合并特殊的 GIS tools. Access to the GIS server is embedded嵌入 inside the Web application and typically hidden from the user of the application.

When you create Web applications with ArcGIS Server, you can integrate结合 content from your own server with content from other GIS servers. For example, suppose you're a retailer零售商 with data about how products are selling across your store locations. You might overlay覆盖 your data with demographic 人口统计学data from a different source to see how sales at each store location compare to the population around them. This way, you can tailor 修改the products at the stores to the community they serve.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to access the GIS resources you host on your GIS server is through ArcGIS Explorer. Included with ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Explorer is a geospatial information地理空间信息 viewer that provides an easy way to view the geographic information running on a GIS server.

With ArcGIS Explorer, you can

Seamlessly无缝的 explore 探索data for the entire world in three dimensions三维.
Fuse融合 your local data with data and services from ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS, Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) Web Map Services (WMS), and ESRI-hosted ArcWeb Services.
Perform GIS analysis tasks 执行GIS分析任务(for example, visibility可见性, direction finding寻找方向, and proximity search邻近搜索).
Answer geographic questions 地理问题and get answers you can share with others.
Use maps and data from your own GIS servers.

The ArcGIS Desktop suite of applications 桌面应用套件(ArcCatalog, ArcMap, and ArcGlobe) provides access to the GIS resources on the GIS server. ArcGIS Desktop users can be divided into two groups: those that simply use the GIS resources hosted on the GIS server and those that are actively involved with creating and managing the GIS resources. 一类，简单地使用地理信息系统GIS服务器上托管的资源Thus, ArcGIS Desktop applications can serve as clients, and they are also the tools you'll use to create the resources that you host on your GIS server. For instance, you'll author maps in ArcMap and globes in ArcGlobe, then use ArcCatalog to publish them on your GIS server.

Here's a brief overview of how you can use the desktop applications with the GIS server.
In ArcCatalog, connecting to a GIS server is similar to connecting to a local folder文件夹 on your computer or to a database server. Once connected, you have access to all the resources available on the GIS server. You can use these resources just as you would use any resource, for example, adding a map service as a layer图层 in an ArcMap map. If you also have administrative access to the GIS server, you'll see additional tools 额外的工具that let you manage the server. You'll be able to configure配置 the server, add and remove resources, and monitor监控 it to make sure it's working properly.
You'll use ArcMap to author编辑 the map resources you host on your GIS server. ArcMap can also function起作用，运行 as a client application客户端应用程序 that simply consumes 消耗the resources running on the GIS server. For example, you can add layers to your map based on map services; find addresses based on geocoding services地图编码服务; and perform data management tasks,执行数据管理任务 such as geodatabase synchronization using geodata services.使用地理数据服务同步地理数据库
geodatabase地理数据库  geocoding 地里编码 geodata 地理数据
You'll use ArcGlobe to author创作 globe documents that you host on your GIS server. You can also use ArcGlobe as a client客户端 application and add layers to your globe document that reference指导 globe services running on the GIS server.
Using ArcToolbox and ModelBuilder, you can create GIS models to share with others through geoprocessing地理处理 services. These models can help automate 使……自动化GIS analysis and data management workflows. 数据管理工作流程You can also connect to others' published models and add them to your own ArcToolbox.

ArcToolbox further supports the GIS server by providing the tools you need to create cached map services. 创建缓存地图服务A cached缓存 map service serves a collection of tiled map平铺地图 images created in advance at fixed scales and stored on the server. Client applications that access a cached map service draw maps very fast because the GIS server simply returns a precreated image to the client

Application developers应用程序开发人员 can also make use of the GIS resources to create custom 传统applications that focus on the requirements of a particular user in their user community. Typically, the end user终端用户 of a custom application that incorporates GIS functionality 集成GIS功能has little or no knowledge that this functionality功能 is being provided by the GIS server.

The following sections部分 describe how a developer might use GIS resources to build various kinds of applications.
Web applications
Developers can build Web applications that end users access through Web browsers. Again, the developer accesses one or more GIS resources on the GIS server and incorporates their functionality into the Web application.
Web services
Unlike Web applications, Web services are consumed not by people but by software applications. Thus, Web services don't have any user interface; it's up to the application that uses the Web service to provide the interface. Usually, the fact that an application uses a Web service is completely hidden to any user of the application. ArcGIS Server Web services are no different. They provide GIS functionality to applications that need it, with the expectation that those applications will provide the necessary user experience that exposes the functionality.

The services you create with ArcGIS Server are enabled for access over the Web启动对网站的访问. You can create map, geocode, globe, geodata, geoprocessing, mobile data, and network analysis Web services. You can also create OGC WMS, Web Feature Services (WFS) and Web Coverage Services (WCS), as well as Keyhole Markup Language (KML) services.

Mobile applications
Mobile applications 移动应用程序are used in a connected environment连接的环境中, allowing users to experience体验 the richness丰富性 and robustness 稳健性of a Windows application while taking advantage of利用 the deployment部署 and manageability 管理that's similar to Web applications.类似于web的应用程序 Developers typically write mobile applications to support users with specific and well-defined workflows工作流程. Users of mobile applications frequently work in a disconnected 不相连的mode on a variety of platforms (for example, in the field on laptops or Pocket PCs) without losing access to the application logic应用程序逻辑 and spatial data 空间provided by ArcGIS Server.

Desktop applications
Developers can build desktop applications that work with the GIS server in a client/server mode. These applications can be built using the ArcGIS Engine Developer Kit.

The software developer kit (SDK)软件开发工具包 included with ArcGIS Server includes the libraries库, samples样本, diagrams图表, and help you need to develop applications that make use of the server.