Hard disk space requirements for Amazon EC 2 for ArcGIS Server 10.1

Question

It is regarding ArcGIS Server for Amazon EC2 instance.

We have ArcGIS Server 10.1 installed on AMI EC2 instance and now we are facing space problem. We have few map services around 12 to 15 map services and only 1.5 GB space remaining on C drive.

I spoke my IT admin and contacted support but not get satisfactory answer.

I have stored all data on D drive still wondering that few service definitions files are created on C drive.

The arcgisserver folder size is 2.35 GB still it is showing that all my C drive is approximately full (Please check the screen-shots and please explain me why it’s taking the too much space.)

According to research, I found following options:

1. Completely move (the arcgisfolder) to D drive

2. Increase the space of C drive ( I don’t want to restart my machine because its production machine and REST services has the ip address so If I restart the machine the IP address will change and I need to update REST url with new IP address [Which is not possible : ( ]

3. Delete all services (& recreate it on D drive, which is not possible.)

4. My IT admin has checked the all settings of C drive and we are wondering that why it’s taking too much space on Amazon instance (We do not have any cache services)

5. Going through following links

https://forums.aws.amazon.com/message.jspa?messageID=288313

http://www.rdacorp.com/2011/03/how-to-increase-windows-2008-r2-ebs-volume-size/

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5898308/how-to-safely-upgrade-an-amazon-ec2-instance-from-t1-micro-to-large

I remember that in previous version i.e. version 10.0 SP3 I did not face this type of problem.

Please check this and let me know suitable option so that we will do this is on Downtime.

Software: ArcGIS Server 10.1 & ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 , O.S : Windows 2008 R2

Please check the win_dart information of my machine

Image 1:

Answer 1

You should not depend on never restarting. Assign elastic ip. Then reattach after restart.
I always build the machine first to have wwwwroot on drive d. Also I do not allow data copy (new 10.1 feature option while creating service).
I either upload file GDB (fgdb) or attach a second machine with RDBMS (sqlserver).
If you use fgdb create d drive access folder for all data.
Utilize all IT skills you have to ensure efficient virtual ram is on second or third drive.
Make all installations associated with arcgis use temp space on second drive. Minimize the os use of c as much as possible.
Attempt to create scenario where you can restore as much of your system from a secondary drive not the os drive.
again use your best skills.

The only reponse from esri was...

1. You can freeup some space in your C:\ drive by deleting the contents from your Temp folder. The Temp folder can be accessed by going to Start > Run > %TEMP% and also Start > Run > temp.
2. You can use CCleaner software to delete unneccessary files from your C:\ drive.

Both of these solutions are weak at best and I had already done. The most helpful thing I did was to move my iis default to d drive.

You will want to read up on it first and plan it when you can have the web server (service) turned off.

I don't use any services that don't access sqlserver so the arcgisoutput folder is not a problem for my situation. But certainly could be configured for the d drive.

Your windirstat shot shows that you could gain 6GB by moving your virtual memory to second drive. Read up on what the best practice is.
You should probably "keep" a small pagefile on c (possibly windows managed ) [I don't use the windows managed].
I always set my min max the same so a static size file keeps the same place on the drive.

IMHO It is an issue with esri on ec2 and should be addressed. Changing the ami to have a standard esri D drive install, or just a larger c drive allocation.
Regardless: after you get your system set up the way you want it and operating smoothly you should make a snapshot to allow you to replicate if needed. I would also document each change you make.

Answer 2

From your findings, this is ringing some alarm bells.

• As per Brad's answer - definieitly use Elastic IP, but this wont help your actual disk space issue.

• 2.35 GB in arcgiserver folder but no caches?

Are you making use of the copy data to server mechanism in 10.1 (can be useful when used against AWS)? If so I suspect the majority of that 2.5GB is in the arcgissystem folder, right?

One option would be to make use of the SQL Express instance (included on the AMI) and store your data in there. This should be better storage efficiency.

However, if you are expecting more data in the future, you might want to consider spinning up a 2nd instance with an enterprise DBMS on and registering this as a managed DB with ArcGIS Server. Take a look at data registration options to see your different options over copying data to the server.

Take a look at that 2.5GB of data. Ask yourself if you need the entire extent/all attributes of the data-sets that you have uploaded.

• Large Page File

This is a sign you have a managed pagefile, and its increased from its default size due to the machine running out of resources (memory) to deliver whats being asked from it. This is what I would be focusing on fixing up.

What size instance this is sitting on? If it is medium, consider bumping it up to large (higher costs from AWS). Why are you not making use of any cached map services? How complex are your dynamic map services? Any GP services going on?

I would recommend making use of the System Designer Tool to understand what hardware you have, what services you have, what demand your users are asking from the services, and can the backend hardware support this? (there is hardware choices to choose Esri AWS instances)

The easy answer would be to say spin up another GIS Server within your ArcGIS Site to handle the load, but that means another license. The System Designer Tool will help you understand why its consuming resources, and how you can change other factors to improve performance.