DYLAN THOMAS: Hello, and welcome to "What in the World."
This is a regular show where Enterprise Googlers talk
about an interesting topic for Maps or Business.
My name's Dylan Thomas.
I'm a Maps community manager, and joining me today
is Avnish Bhatnagar, who's a technical solutions engineer.
Hi, Avnish.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Hi, Dylan.
It's a pleasure to be here today.
DYLAN THOMAS: Thanks.
So you're an expert on Google Earth Enterprise.
And today you want to show us a bit about what's
coming up in the 5.0 release.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: That's right.
We have a lot of exciting new features.
We've listened to our customers about many of the feature
requests that they've asked for over the years.
And we're really pleased to announce
that we implemented many of them.
DYLAN THOMAS: So I think today you
were going to talk about the new publishing workflow.
You're going to talk about alpha masking and WMS.
But I think first you wanted to just say a few words about how
this release fits into the broader picture of the product
plan, right?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: That's right.
Google Earth Enterprise is an important component
of the overall ground to cloud strategy
at Google, wherein you could take layers that
may exist in Google Earth Enterprise-- online
or offline in Google Earth Enterprise.
You could cut those globes that you have in those two platforms
and serve them all together in a single unified way.
DYLAN THOMAS: Got it.
So we're sort of removing the boundary between the products,
in some sense, by letting you take data from Maps Engine
and serve it with Earth Enterprise,
or take data from Maps Engine and serve it
with another product entirely, like the portable, right?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly, through the portable server,
that's sort of the common denominator
that bridges Google Earth Enterprise and Maps Engine.
DYLAN THOMAS: All right, well, thanks
for sort of setting the scene there.
So I guess, why don't we take a look at some demos now?
I think you were going to start with the new publishing
workflow.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Yeah.
So I have here my Fusion machine that I've logged in to.
So as before, I just go ahead and launch Fusion.
And this may look familiar-- not too many changes
on the front end of Fusion.
And these are some databases, both 2D and 3D,
that I've already built here in Fusion.
So if I start with the 3D one, for example,
this BlueMarble database, a very simple BlueMarble database
with a few vector layers.
DYLAN THOMAS: Yeah?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: If I right click on this,
you'll note that the option for push is there, but not publish.
DYLAN THOMAS: Got it.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: And the reason is,
is we've decoupled Fusion and Server.
Publishing now is a server-side function.
And that goes a long way in simplifying
the overall workflow, wherein before, you had to,
on your server, create what's called these virtual servers.
A virtual server was essentially one part Apache virtual server
and one part the publisher mapping
that existed in Google Earth Enterprise.
And to be honest, it's somewhat complicated to properly create
that virtual server with the Apache directives,
configure it.
And so that's vastly simplified now.
DYLAN THOMAS: Got it.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: All you need to know now in Fusion
is build your database and push it to your server.
DYLAN THOMAS: Perfect.
So it's just way simpler, one concept instead of a couple.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
So I've already built my database,
so I'm going to go ahead and push it.
When you say Push, I have one server association
that's built out of the box called Public.
And I select the version of the database I want to push,
and I say Push.
It gives me the database successfully pushed.
So now what I'm going to do is go to my server.
And this is something that's new in that there is now
an actual user interface, a web-based UI for the server.
If I just type in the URL of my server,
I'm presented with a splash page that
confirms the version I have.
And at the top right is a button that says Admin.
I click on that.
And typically, I'd be presented with a username and password,
which in this case has been saved.
But the idea is that only administrators
should have access to this admin page.
So this admin page, number one, functions as a dashboard.
Tells me right off the bat how many databases do I have,
how many of them are published, what my disk storage is
like, what the cutter status is.
So in one unified view, I can get a snapshot of my server.
DYLAN THOMAS: So in a 4.x environment,
let's say the current environment,
how do you get this information right now?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Well, since there was no single UI in 4.4,
you had to get this information through the command line.
DYLAN THOMAS: Got it.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Various command lines and-- yeah, you
would have to extract that from different [INAUDIBLE].
DYLAN THOMAS: So [? in ?] 5.0, you can still do that.
We're not taking that away.
You can still get that information in that way
if you've got scripts that pull from it or what have you.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
DYLAN THOMAS: But this just gives you a much easier option
to get everything in one shot.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Right.
It really, I think, facilitates management of your server.
Under Settings, I can also look at-- I
have direct links to my documentation, which
is bundled with the product.
So it's not reaching out to Google
to get the documentation.
It's in the product itself.
I have a link to my Apache logs.
Oftentimes, when something goes wrong,
the first place you want to look is in the logs.
So now we have a direct link to the access log and error log.
And I can launch my cutter from here.
In other words, if I want to cut my 2D or 3D globe,
I can launch that as well, directly from the UI.
But let's now go to Databases.
DYLAN THOMAS: Because we're trying to publish, right?
We're trying to finish the second part
of that process you started.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
So you might recall, I published my BlueMarble database-- sorry,
I pushed it from Fusion to my server.
So it's showing up right here.
There's an entry for BlueMarble version 15.
And it shows that the status is currently unpublished.
So all I have to do is select it, click on Publish.
And here is where I select a publish point.
This is what we used to call, in the past, virtual servers,
where this part of the publish point
is what defines how users are going
to connect to your [INAUDIBLE].
DYLAN THOMAS: So the endpoint access
they would use-- in their client to connect to the server.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Right.
So I could call it something simple, like demo.
I tell it what search tabs I want in this database.
And note that I can mix and match what types of search tabs
I want.
It's all specified right here in this single box.
Snippets-- also something that I no longer add in Fusion,
but I put in right here when I'm publishing.
And the advantage of that is I can have different snippet
profiles for different publish points.
So that way if I had a secure globe
and I only wanted certain logos to appear
on that secure globe, certain search tabs,
I can define that here.
Whereas if I wanted a public globe that
has this same underlying data but with different search
tabs and different snippets, I can manage all that right here.
By default, there's only one virtual host, which is public.
If I wanted to create a new one like secure,
I could do that and add in all my LDAP or authentication
credentials.
And here's where I select whether I
want WMS enabled on this globe or not.
So I say Yes.
DYLAN THOMAS: We're going to get to that in a minute,
though, right?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
And then I click on Publish.
Done.
DYLAN THOMAS: Great.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: At this point, my endpoint is ready.
My globe is ready to be served.
If I click on that again, I can even preview it right here
within the browser.
It's going to open up my-- basically, as you can see here,
the URL is basically that of my GE server slash demo.
And in this case, it's trying to load it in the plug-in.
As the plug-in loads, I can also directly
connect from EC, the Enterprise Client, which I'll launch here.
DYLAN THOMAS: So the publishing process
is pretty much instantaneous?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
Because it's essentially just a mount point.
And there's my globe in EC.
DYLAN THOMAS: So again, just to reiterate
on sort of this new publishing workflow,
there's the separation of concerns, if you like,
just doing what's appropriate at which stage.
We're not taking away functionality
with command-line-driven workflows
that you may already have.
But we're just giving you a really easy, new way
to accomplish this in a UI.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
We're just decoupling the publishing function,
moving all publishing functions to the server, which
is really where they belong.
DYLAN THOMAS: Yeah.
Great, thanks.
So why don't we move on and look at the next two items?
The first was alpha masking, and I
think we're going to revisit the WMS item, as well.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: So alpha masking
is a feature that folks have asked for quite some time.
And the use case is this-- let's say
I have some really high-resolution imagery
over Mountain View, California.
The rest of my imagery, though, is not so high resolution.
And in fact, I want to get that from some other place,
some other database.
So I can now build my imagery project
to just have the high-resolution imagery for Mountain View.
In the past, we've asked that you have a base
layer with worldwide coverage.
That's no longer necessary.
We've removed that restriction.
So as an example, let's go back to my Fusion interface here.
And if I pull up my imagery project,
I have an imagery project here that consisted of just Cuba.
And I chose Cuba just because it's
an island with some interesting features along the coastline.
So I had some high-resolution imagery of just Cuba.
And I included that in a database
which I've already published.
If I go back here to my server UI,
I have this BlueMarble version 13 database,
which is published at mount point slash cuba.
And I can see that's already published.
It tells me when I published it and the size.
So if I go now to EC, and I connect to my server slash
cuba, you can see here that the entire globe
is blank except for Cuba.
So this is my high-resolution imagery just for that region.
So now I want to overlay this, essentially,
on a base of lower resolution imagery from another database,
from some other source.
Now, that could be Google, through kh.google.com,
if you have a license of Google Earth Pro.
Or it could be another Google Earth Enterprise database.
So I'm simply going to say Add Database.
And I happen to have another internal GEE server
running, which I'm going to connect
to to pull in imagery for the rest of the world.
And there you go.
So if I zoom in to Cuba now, there's
my imagery for Cuba, overlaid on top
of the imagery of the world.
DYLAN THOMAS: Nice.
And you can see them both.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Now, the order does matter.
In this case, the imagery of my secondary database
is being overlaid on top of my imagery of Cuba.
So usually, I'd want to switch that, right?
So typically, then I would connect to the imagery of Cuba.
That database, I would connect to that second.
DYLAN THOMAS: Got it.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: So I can simply say Disconnect.
So I'd probably want to first connect
to my database that has worldwide coverage
and then add the database that has the imagery of Cuba.
And there you go.
DYLAN THOMAS: So the alpha masking
is really a pretty straightforward feature
in terms of the end-user experience.
It just makes a lot of sense, it's how you want to see it,
but that's something that hasn't been possible
at all until [INAUDIBLE].
Great.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Right, and this
is a feature which, if you decide you want in 5.0,
you would need to rebuild your imagery resource.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
DYLAN THOMAS: Because I think the one of the things
our customers are asking at this point is about the need
to rebuild databases, the need to make changes to their core
assets.
And you're saying this is one of those new features that
will require it.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: The bottom line
is you only have to rebuild your resources and projects if you
want to get some of these new features.
DYLAN THOMAS: OK.
Well, let's round it out then with a closer look at the WMS
feature.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: OK, yeah, that's
a really exciting feature that folks have asked for,
especially users of various OpenGIS tools.
I can make a 2D or a 3D map accessible through WMS,
and all that involves is enabling
any one of these globes-- 2D or 3D.
I'll start with 2D, say this one right here.
I have already published this, but I just
want to enable WMS on this.
And let me make sure I'm serving the latest version here.
10/17-- yep, that's today.
OK, so it's already published.
Serve WMS.
And it says, actually, that target path is already in use.
So maybe I should choose a new one, like demo2d.
If I wanted to add search tabs to this database,
I could, too, right here.
DYLAN THOMAS: Your point here, though,
is that it's very, very simple.
Even if you've got it serving already,
you can just go back and add that capability.
It's very simple.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
The publish points are dynamically created.
It doesn't involve restarting the server any time
you make a change or anything like that.
DYLAN THOMAS: So I know you can do 3D globes, also.
But why don't we take a look at what
the client experience here?
I think you have an example of what this feels like.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Yeah, so this is
a preview of my very simple 2D natural earth map here.
And it doesn't have very many layers-- some urban areas,
some country borders, and that's about it.
So now let's confirm that it's being served via WMS.
So you typically want to launch whatever your preferred OpenGIS
WMS client might be.
In this case, I'm going to launch QGIS.
And over here, I say Add a WMS Layer.
And you specify your WMS server here.
Make sure the endpoint's correct.
The one I created was demo2d.
Type that in, /wms.
If it has a username or password,
you enter that there, too.
And then I say Connect.
So now it's essentially done a Get Capabilities
request on my WMS server and seen,
oh, I have three layers available-- imagery,
urban areas, and country borders.
So now I can add the desired layers into my QGIS workspace.
I'm going to add country borders, then
urban areas, and then my imagery.
And if you want to reshuffle, I guess, the rendering order,
you can just move any of those up.
DYLAN THOMAS: So just like the alpha masking,
this looks pretty straightforward stuff.
And in fact, it is.
But being new in 5.0 is a pretty major feature
and a major new capability that customers, as you said,
have been asking for for a very long time.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Exactly.
DYLAN THOMAS: So this is a pretty exciting one for us.
And this is WMS 1.3, and I believe 1.1, also.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Correct.
Yeah, we support up to WMS 1.3.
And as I zoom in, you can start to see the layers.
It might be necessary to disable some of those.
Let's see-- depending on what's being rendered on top.
You can see down here in the lower left the actual WMS
request that's being made.
DYLAN THOMAS: Great.
Well, let me wrap up with one quick question for you, then.
You're in the Geo Support team, so you're
the one who gets all the tough questions
at the end of the day.
Is there anything about the 5.0 release
that you think is going to be difficult for customers
or might trip them up at all?
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Not too much that I would anticipate.
One feature we have implemented is sort of
gravitated towards Mercator map projections.
So for 2D maps, we support Mercator only now.
DYLAN THOMAS: Got it.
OK.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: And that involves
rebuilding your imagery projects.
DYLAN THOMAS: Oh, OK, but I think
this is something that we've announced to our Earth
Enterprise customers for some time now, right?
So this shouldn't-- hopefully no surprise to anyone.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: That's correct.
DYLAN THOMAS: But it's just something,
another one of those--
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: Something to be aware of.
DYLAN THOMAS: And I think you've worked on the integration
guide-- or the upgrade guide, I should
say-- of this new version.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: In the upgrade guide,
and there will be some white papers on possible solutions
that, if you do have a flat database on migration
strategies, how to continue to serve
that flat database as a Mercator, et cetera.
So we'll offer solutions along those lines.
DYLAN THOMAS: That's good to know.
Well, Avnish, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us
today about the 5.0 release.
AVNISH BHATNAGAR: You're welcome.
DYLAN THOMAS: And we'll see you next time
on "What in the World."
Thank you.