ArcGIS Enterprise for Microsoft Windows and Linux is supported in many information technology (IT) infrastructure environments, including public and private cloud environments. ArcGIS supports any cloud virtual machine offering provided it meets the same system requirements as on-premises equivalent machines.
As you plan an ArcGIS Enterprise implementation in a cloud environment, consider how you will deploy the software and which cloud features you'll use as part of your Enterprise deployment.
Deploying in the cloud
To deploy ArcGIS Enterprise in the cloud, first install and configure the software. You can do this using the same methods you use when deploying to on-premises machines, such as the following:
- Chef scripts—Esri provides cookbooks to deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on supported Windows or Linux operating systems.
- Microsoft PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC)—Esri also provides tools to automate installation on Windows machines using PowerShell DSC.
- ArcGIS Enterprise Builder—You can set up a simple single-machine configuration using ArcGIS Enterprise Builder.
- Run individual component setups—For a customized production deployment on separate machines, use the individual installers for each ArcGIS Enterprise component.
If you deploy on Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure, you can use the specialized tooling that Esri provides for these cloud platforms. See Deployment options on Amazon Web Services and What is ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure? for information about these tools.
For cloud environments other than AWS or Azure, you are responsible for provisioning and configuring the infrastructure components using the tooling provided by the cloud infrastructure vendors. This includes provisioning and configuring infrastructure components such as virtual machines, networking components (for example, load balancers and firewalls), and the other components that are necessary to set up a secure and functional environment.
Tip:
To have Esri configure and host your cloud deployment, contact the Esri Managed Cloud Services team.
Integrating with cloud features
When you run ArcGIS Enterprise in a cloud environment, it is possible to integrate with different forms of cloud native platform-as-a-service features such as cloud storage and database-as-a-service offerings. Using cloud native services can provide many benefits in terms of scalability, performance, cost, and maintenance.
Note:
While it is technically possible to connect to cloud storage and cloud databases even if ArcGIS Enterprise is running outside the same cloud environment, it is not recommended because of the increased latency that will decrease performance and risk timeouts. Esri does not formally support connecting to cloud services if ArcGIS Enterprise software components are not also running in the same region of the same cloud.
Cloud storage services
ArcGIS Enterprise can connect to cloud storage for a variety of purposes including system storage, as a cloud storage data store, and to store backup files. See Cloud options for ArcGIS for a list of supported cloud storage services.
System storage
ArcGIS Enterprise requires storage space for certain content internal to the software, such as the portal content directory or the ArcGIS Server configuration store.
When you deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on AWS or Azure, you can use cloud native services and storage for these system storage locations. See the diagrams in AWS CloudFormation and ArcGIS for examples of these storage options in AWS. On Azure, you can use Azure Blob storage.
Cloud storage data stores
You can use cloud storage data stores for the following in ArcGIS Enterprise:
- Cache directories for image and map services.
- Input and output locations for GeoAnalytics Tools. To do this, register a cloud storage data store and set it as a big data file share. This allows datasets to be read from and written to cloud storage locations as part of large-scale analytical workflows.
- Output location for raster analysis tools. Register a cloud storage data store and set it as a raster store.
- To store hosted imagery layer data you upload in the Create imagery layer wizard in the portal.
- A secondary archive for ArcGIS GeoEvent Server observation data that you export from the spatiotemporal big data store.
Learn how to add a cloud storage data store item in the portal or register a cloud storage location using ArcGIS Server Manager.
Backup file storage
You can create a backup of a cloud or on-premises ArcGIS Enterprise deployment in an Azure Blob storage container, an Amazon S3 bucket, or an S3 compatible location on another cloud platform. By storing backups in the cloud, you can scale the size of the storage location.
As with all cloud resources, if the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment is not in the same cloud region as the storage service, creating backups and restoring from them takes longer than it does if the deployment and backup storage locations are in the same region.
For information on how to create an ArcGIS Enterprise backup to a cloud storage location, see Create an ArcGIS Enterprise backup.
Tip:
When you create a backup of an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, you cannot have anyone publishing to or editing content in the deployment. To use the storage benefits of the cloud without greatly increasing the amount of time that your system is unavailable, back up to a local drive and copy the backup files to a cloud storage location.
Cloud databases and data warehouses
ArcGIS Enterprise supports multiple databases as a data source. Many of these databases can be used to host enterprise geodatabases while others are only supported as databases. When you install a database to a virtual machine in the cloud, the same hardware and software requirements apply as when you install on machines on-premises.
Several cloud providers offer managed database services that are also supported by ArcGIS Enterprise. These cloud-hosted database services ease the installation, configuration, and maintenance of relational databases by handling most, if not all, of the work involved in these processes. See Requirements for using ArcGIS with databases in the cloud for a list of supported database services. You can create a geodatabase in nearly all of these database service offerings.
If you deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on AWS, you can use the deployment tools provided by Esri to create an enterprise geodatabase in a supported Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) and register it as the managed database for an ArcGIS Server site.
If you deploy ArcGIS Enterprise on Microsoft Azure using the ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure, you can use Cloud Builder to create a database or enterprise geodatabase in a supported Azure database service.
Similar to cloud-based database services, cloud data warehouses allow you to store large amounts of data in the cloud. Being a warehouse, this data is typically not edited, but new records and tables are frequently added to the warehouse. See Requirements for using ArcGIS with databases in the cloud for a list of supported cloud data warehouses.