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Author Topic: OnEarth blocked?  (Read 5134 times)

KanyonKris

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OnEarth blocked?
« on: March 25, 2005, 02:00:07 PM »
Ran TopoFusion today and got an error when I tried the 3D mode - said something about Error -5 decoding PNG file. Went to the JPL OnEarth server and found only an error page. Is the service just down or are they moving or taking the service down because of TF users?

I can't help but comment that if the 3D data was cached I'd still be able to view 3D in areas I've already downloaded.
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Krein

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OnEarth blocked?
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2005, 02:05:13 PM »
It works fine now.  Looks like it was just temporarily down.

There are other programs that grab data from the server, so it's unlikely they'll shut it down based only of TopoFusion, though since adding support for it their serverload has increased.
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Krein

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OnEarth blocked?
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2005, 02:06:34 PM »
Quote (KanyonKris @ Mar. 25 2005,2:00)
I can't help but comment that if the 3D data was cached I'd still be able to view 3D in areas I've already downloaded.

Yep, good point.   But for now I'll take being able to get 3D anywhere in the world with the requirement that 1) you're online and 2) the JPL server is up.
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KanyonKris

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OnEarth blocked?
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2005, 05:06:36 PM »
I think JPL is blocking me from work. I can access the OnEarth server from my ISP I use at home. I'll send an e-mail to the OnEarth webmaster and see what's up.
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KanyonKris

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OnEarth blocked?
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2005, 04:47:58 PM »
I heard back from the webmaster of the OnEarth server. He had blocked the IP of our company because of a spike in download traffic from our site. Oddly he said the image data (LandSat) downloads were the ones that got us blocked, not the DEM data downloads. He removed the block and DEM and LandSat are working again.

He gave TopoFusion a spin and seemed impressed by what it can do. But there may be a concern of TopoFusion putting too much load on their server. I'm awaiting his permission to forward our e-mail correspondence to the TF developers. If I get an OK I'll send it to the "suggestions" e-mail address.

I'm posting this here because I feel users and the developers may be interested in this issue. Devs, you may want to think more seriously about caching DEM data if the OnEarth server will be sensitive to the load caused by TF.

Lastly, you will be blocked from the OnEarth server if you go through an open proxy. They also block sites for national security reasons.
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Krein

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OnEarth blocked?
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2005, 05:21:32 PM »
Kris,

Thanks for the update on this.  We'd be happy to correspond with folks at JPL about TopoFusion.  I don't imagine that TopoFusion has increased the server load any more than, say, Earthviewer.  In fact TopoFusion use is probably a tiny fraction of it.

In any case, it is not surprising that it was the image data, not DEM.  DEM files are really just 16 bit images just larger than the standard tile (200x200).  A screenfull of landsat tiles will eat up more bandwidth than three or four 3D views.

So, caching DEM data will not have much of an effect on the overall server load, but you are right that it's one more reason to do it.



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