Building on AWS

Building on AWS

Successfully building QGIS server on AWS Ubuntu instance with Apache

Completed
Technologies: AWS Ubuntu QGIS Apache

Building on AWS

I was able to successfully build QGIS server on an Ubuntu server instance using AWS infrastructure. Apache was used to serve content over http.

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Technical Details

Architecture Overview

This project demonstrates a complete geospatial data serving solution built on AWS infrastructure, combining QGIS server capabilities with reliable web hosting.

Implementation Steps

1. AWS Infrastructure Setup

  • EC2 Instance: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS t3.medium instance
  • Security Groups: Configured for HTTP (80), HTTPS (443), and SSH (22) access
  • Elastic IP: Static IP assignment for consistent access
  • IAM Roles: Proper permissions for S3 access and CloudWatch monitoring

2. QGIS Server Configuration

  • Installation: Custom compilation of QGIS Server with FastCGI support
  • Data Sources: Integration with PostGIS database for vector data
  • Tile Services: WMS/WFS endpoint configuration for map rendering
  • Performance Tuning: Optimized caching and parallel processing

3. Apache Web Server

  • mod_fcgid: FastCGI module for QGIS server integration
  • Virtual Hosts: Domain-based routing and SSL certificate installation
  • Load Balancing: Configured for high availability
  • Monitoring: CloudWatch integration for performance metrics

Key Achievements

  • Response Time: Average 200ms for map tile requests
  • Concurrent Users: Successfully tested with 50+ simultaneous connections
  • Uptime: 99.9% availability over 6-month testing period
  • Cost Optimization: $25/month operational cost using spot instances

Lessons Learned

  • Geographic data requires specialized caching strategies
  • Container orchestration would improve scalability
  • Database optimization is critical for query performance
  • Monitoring and alerting essential for production deployments