Maps  have been created for ages, but making them traditionally required a lot of time and resources. It was not until the 1960s with the advent of digital geographic information systems (GIS) that we became able to leverage large amounts of geographic data to create maps for various purposes using minimal time. GIS has come a long way since the 60s, but it is still used to answer three primary questions:

• What do I have?
• Where is it?
• How do I use it better?

GIS is a powerful tool; unfortunately, the GIS tools we use often have limitations, whether it’s the software, hardware, or both. To get the best results, it is imperative to optimize your mapping systems and services so that they work efficiently and cohesively with each other.

The most popular solution currently on the market is ESRI’s 32-bit ArcGIS Desktop. ArcGIS Desktop is a powerful software that provides coverage for many aspects of GIS, but as it is limited to 32 bits and not making use of multicore workloads, the software presents many issues when it interacts with the processing capabilities of modern hardware.  One solution is to upgrade to the 64-bit ArcGIS Pro, but the program is still in its infancy and rife with bugs. As well, you may not be ready for the cost of a full system migration.

Luckily, ESRI has produced two features that will allow Desktop users to access the resources that modern computers can provide: background processing and parallel processing. Background processing is a feature that runs geoprocessing tools in a 64-bit process outside of the main ArcGIS software. The main advantage of this is that it allows geoprocessing tools to access more than the 4GB of RAM that 32-bit systems are limited to. The parallel processing feature within ArcGIS provides multicore support, spreading the load of a tool across a number of cores specified by the user (although it is important to ensure that this number is not greater than the number cores available as this could drop performance).

However, one potential issue with this is that not all computers are optimized to take advantage of these features. So how do we optimize our computers to run ArcGIS Desktop? The main components we need to worry about are the processor, memory, and storage. Additional components that can help to increase productivity are a powerful graphics card, reliable power supply, and large monitors.

Memory

RAM is one of the most important components in a system, especially when working with large datasets as it is the fastest form of storage available. To take full advantage of background processing, ESRI recommends having at least 8GB of memory, but when running through large datasets, it can be advantageous to have upwards of, if not more than, 16GB in your workstation and ensure that the system is running on a 64-bit architecture. As for the parallel processing feature, since many modern processors have multiple cores — with the latest Ryzen CPUs from AMD boasting up to 32 cores — it is important to ensure that your workstations are outfitted with multi-core processors running at the highest reasonable clock-speeds.

Storage

When processing large datasets, as well as any program that relies heavily upon data retrieval time, the storage medium being used can create a huge bottleneck. ArcGIS is built to reload all map elements each time the display is moved, so it is important to have fast storage to minimize the time that a technician must wait to continue working. Hard drives are too slow for most operations these days and are mostly useful for long-term archiving of data that will not need to be accessed often. In its place, a solid state drive can be one of the best cost-for-performance upgrades one can buy for older systems running on hard drives.

There are a few hardware components that are not as important for the performance of ArcGIS but are still useful for optimizing your computer’s performance.

Graphics Card

A powerful and dedicated graphics card can help take the strain off a CPU. While the gains are not massive, a dedicated GPU will not use the CPU resources that could otherwise be allocated to ArcGIS processing. However, it is important to balance the power of your CPU with the GPU. A powerful GPU will be slowed down by a comparatively underpowered CPU as it cannot provide enough throughput to keep the GPU fed with data. The reverse is also true with an underpowered GPU. A balance of power will prevent bottlenecks and ensure that you are getting the most out of all of your equipment.

Monitors

Incredibly important for productivity are multi-display workstation setups. When using ArcGIS, the larger the display, the better. Multiple displays allow users to view multiple pages, documents, and programs simultaneously, making following templates, instructions, and tutorials easier by removing the need to switch between pages. As well, because ArcGIS reloads all map elements each time the map display is moved or zoomed in/out, a large 4k display allows technicians and analysts to view their work with minimal screen movement. Doing so will ultimately increase productivity.

Power Supply

To save your systems from data loss and corruption, crucial components to have are a reliable uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and power supply (PSU). Losing data is never a good situation to be in, and in the event of a power outage or power surge, you could lose much more than just data. A good UPS will protect the components in a system from failure on top of providing you time to save, backup, and shut down properly. A stable power supply is also critical as imperfect disconnectcan hurt the longevity of components and, in very rare cases, cause a CPU to give wrong outputs on calculations.

There are many things to pay attention to when preparing your system for use in GIS. Start with a sizable amount of RAM to help process large datasets and support it with a high-clock-speed, multi-core, 64-bit CPU to ensure that data throughput is not an issue. Next, a fast SSD to store data locally can cut acquisition time and latency as much as possible. Installing a dedicated graphics card means that resources are not taken away from the CPU unnecessarily. Reliable power systems can help uphold data integrity and prevent loss. Finally, a multi-large-monitor setup will help with efficiency in a user’s day-to-day operation and decrease the time spent waiting for ArcGIS to load spatial data. When all of these methods are applied together, you will have the most efficient mapping services possible, as well as an unhindered geospatial team.