ArcGIS GeoEvent Server
ArcGIS GeoEvent Server is a server licensing role of the ArcGIS Server component in ArcGIS Enterprise. GeoEvent Server can be deployed alongside other ArcGIS Enterprise components, server licensing roles, and feature capabilities. An ArcGIS Enterprise license is required to obtain a GeoEvent Server license. ArcGIS GeoEvent Server leverages component functionality from ArcGIS Enterprise while at the same time enabling real-time capabilities for ArcGIS Enterprise. ArcGIS GeoEvent Server relies on the ArcGIS Server component framework - ArcGIS Server must be installed on a machine before ArcGIS GeoEvent Server can be installed.
It is expected that each machine with ArcGIS Server installed will be licensed for a single server role. It is possible to license an ArcGIS Server machine for multiple server roles, for example, as both a GIS Server and a GeoEvent Server. Doing so, however, runs counter to the best practices for workload separation described in the Esri white paper, Architecting the ArcGIS Platform: Best Practices.
Spatiotemporal big data store
The spatiotemporal big data store is a data store type available in ArcGIS Data Store. When installing or configuring ArcGIS Data Store, you have the option to enable the spatiotemporal big data store. The spatiotemporal big data store should be enabled on a separate machine. For example, a typical deployment would be to install the components of ArcGIS Enterprise (Portal for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Server, and ArcGIS Data Store) on one machine. ArcGIS Server would be licensed as a GIS Server and Data Store configured to provide a relational database ArcGIS Server uses as its managed geodatabase while fulfilling the role of a hosting server for the ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
On a second machine, typically, you would install ArcGIS Data Store and configure the spatiotemporal big data store. Part of configuring the spatiotemporal big data store is registering it with the ArcGIS Enterprise portal's hosting server.
On a third machine, you could install ArcGIS Server, licensing the deployment with an ArcGIS GeoEvent Server license, and then install GeoEvent Server (licensing the second installation with the same GeoEvent Server license). This limits the ArcGIS Server role to support ArcGIS GeoEvent Server, leaving open the possibility the server could be federated with the ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
ArcGIS releases
Using the same ArcGIS software release across all machines in your enterprise GIS is recommended. However, there may be times when upgrading GeoEvent Server to a newer release could be beneficial while the rest of your enterprise GIS remains at a previous release. When considering breaking release parity between GeoEvent Server and the rest of your enterprise GIS, there are several things to consider.
ArcGIS Enterprise
Most features in ArcGIS Enterprise are backward/forward compatible. So, upgrading just GeoEvent Server to a new version should not impact most configurations. There are two exceptions that will require version parity between GeoEvent Server and the rest of the enterprise GIS including:
- Connections to the spatiotemporal big data store. If you are using the spatiotemporal big data store outputs or any related functionality in GeoEvent Server, the releases of ArcGIS GeoEvent Server and ArcGIS Data Store must be the same.
- Advanced functionality available in ArcGIS Pro may not be available (e.g. render controls, stream layer controls, and more) if GeoEvent Server is not at the latest release.
Some other things to consider include:
- Releases of ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS GeoEvent Server must be the same.
- GeoEvent Server can work with components of ArcGIS Enterprise at older releases, however, integration is limited to RESTful interfaces (e.g. map and feature services) and you cannot federate the latest release of GeoEvent Server with an older ArcGIS Enterprise portal.
Custom GeoEvent Server components
Custom components created using the GeoEvent Server SDK do not need to be updated to match the release of GeoEvent Server. Typically, once a custom component is compiled and deployed, it will not need to be modified or recompiled when GeoEvent Server is upgraded. This simplifies configuration and management of custom components. This is true for any component that was created and compiled at GeoEvent Server SDK version 10.4 or later.
Custom components compiled against the GeoEvent Server SDK version 10.3.1 or earlier will need to be recompiled to be compatible with GeoEvent Server 10.4 or later. When choosing a version to compile your custom components against, always start with the GeoEvent Server SDK version 10.4. The SDK version a custom component is compiled against should only be incremented when issues are observed.