What is ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure?

ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure is an application you install on your local Microsoft Windows machine to deploy ArcGIS Enterprise and stand-alone ArcGIS Server sites on Microsoft Azure. It helps you to extend your Azure implementation to include ArcGIS.

You can download ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure and install it if you have an ArcGIS Enterprise license.

The following sections describe what items are created on Azure when you create a deployment using ArcGIS Enterprise Cloud Builder for Microsoft Azure.

ArcGIS Enterprise deployment items

When you create base ArcGIS Enterprise on Azure using Cloud Builder, you get the following components:

• Portal for ArcGIS
• A GIS Server site to act as the portal's hosting server.
• A relational data store created through ArcGIS Data Store.
• An Azure Application gateway.

The number of virtual machines in a base ArcGIS Enterprise deployment on Azure varies based on choices you make when you create the deployment.

• A multiple-machine deployment (Multi Machine Multi Tier)—Each ArcGIS component that you include in the ArcGIS Enterprise deployment will run on its own machine. This is the recommended deployment type for production environments. It requires an enterprise edition license.
• A single-machine deployment (Single Machine Single Tier)—All components will run on the same virtual machine. This includes all base ArcGIS Enterprise components and any additional ArcGIS Data Store types that you include when you create the deployment. This type of deployment is recommended for test or development environments.
• A two-machine deployment (Dual Machine Single Tier)—This type of deployment includes two virtual machines to provide high availability. Each machine includes all base ArcGIS Enterprise components and any additional ArcGIS Data Store types that you include when you create the deployment.

If you have a workgroup edition license, you can use either of the single-tier options.

ArcGIS Server deployment items

Cloud Builder allows you to create single-machine ArcGIS Server sites or multiple-machine sites. You can also add machines to the sites you create using Cloud Builder.

You have several ArcGIS Server site options, depending on what role you require the site to fill. Any of the following types of ArcGIS Server sites can be added to an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment. A few can be created as a stand-alone site.

ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server

An ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site allows you to use GeoAnalytics Tools to perform feature analysis to find patterns and aggregate data.

Cloud Builder federates the ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server site with the ArcGIS Enterprise portal on Azure that you specify.

The ArcGIS Enterprise deployment must include a spatiotemporal big data store to use ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Server.

ArcGIS GeoEvent Server

You can create stand-alone ArcGIS GeoEvent Server sites or federate them with an ArcGIS Enterprise portal on Azure to use real-time data feeds in your organization.

Your ArcGIS GeoEvent Server sites on Azure can contain only one virtual machine.

ArcGIS GIS Server

When you deploy ArcGIS Enterprise, you automatically get an ArcGIS GIS Server site as the portal's hosting server. You can create additional ArcGIS GIS Server sites to be used as stand-alone sites, or federate them with an ArcGIS Enterprise portal on Azure.

You can register a Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQLAzure SQL Database, or SQL Server with the GIS Server site when you create the site. When added at site creation time, the databases will always contain a geodatabase.

Alternatively, you can add one or more registered databases to an existing site. When you use this method, you don't have to create a geodatabase in the database. If you do create a geodatabase, you can choose whether to add the geodatabase as a managed database or registered database.

A workgroup or single-machine deployment creates one virtual machine containing ArcGIS Server and a Microsoft SQL Server database or Azure SQL Database.

ArcGIS Knowledge Server

An ArcGIS Knowledge Server site is a required component of ArcGIS Knowledge.

Cloud Builder federates the ArcGIS Knowledge Server site with the ArcGIS Enterprise portal on Azure that you specify.

The ArcGIS Enterprise deployment must include a graph store to use ArcGIS Knowledge Server.

ArcGIS Image Server

You can create a stand-alone ArcGIS Image Server site or federate it with an ArcGIS Enterprise portal on Azure to publish image services from mosaic datasets.

If you federate the ArcGIS Image Server site with a portal, you can choose to set the site as the portal's raster analysis server or the portal's image hosting server.

You must specify an Azure Blob storage location to use as a user-managed raster data store when you create an ArcGIS Image Server site using Cloud Builder.

ArcGIS Mission Server

An ArcGIS Mission Server site is a required component of ArcGIS Mission that facilitates communication between ArcGIS Mission Manager and ArcGIS Mission Responder.

Cloud Builder federates the ArcGIS Mission Server site with your portal. You must have a spatiotemporal big data store in your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment to use ArcGIS Mission Server.

ArcGIS Notebook Server

An ArcGIS Notebook Server site allows you to create ArcGIS Notebooks. Notebooks allow you to use Python for spatial analysis and data science workflows and also provide a way for you to automate administrative tasks.

ArcGIS Notebook Server sites are always federated with an ArcGIS Enterprise deployment, and require you to install and configure Docker on the ArcGIS Notebook Server instance.