2:00pm–3:00pm Tuesday, 04/12/2011
PostGIS is an extension to the PostgreSQL object-relational database system which allows GIS (Geographic Information Systems) objects to be stored in the database. It includes support for spatial indexes, and functions for analysis and processing of GIS objects.
2:00pm–3:00pm Wednesday, 04/13/2011
OpenStreetMap raw data for any non-trivial area
comes as a massive amount of XML data.
Processing that XML data directly is possible, importing it into into a spatial database provides for much more interesting processing options though, especially when it comes to producing on demand map data for web applications with acceptable performance.
3:05pm–3:50pm Wednesday, 04/13/2011
As CTO of Outside.in, and in my new stealth company, I've seen my share of challenging scenarios keeping a very busy PostgreSQL-based startup online and responsive during tremendous growth. EC2 + PostgreSQL + PostGIS + no downtime. Others can probably learn from my battle scars!