I am excited to announce that the tile.ourmap.us community vector tile server now runs with continuous updates, with full planet updates approximately every 10 hours. I had previously introduced this server in June, offering it as a resource for hobbyists developing their own vector-based maps using OpenMapTiles. Additionally, I’ve managed to reduce operational costs. The service now runs at a rate of less than $2 per month, a significant drop from the $20 per month I had earlier highlighted.
This server also powers the OpenStreetMap Americana project. Consequently, the Americana map will receive 2-3 updates daily. This frequency aids developers designing shields for recently added route relations, and mappers focusing on uniquely American cartographic features like expressways and toll roads which don’t show up on other maps.
Additionally, I’ve integrated an RSS feed that relays planet build statuses. This is linked to the Slack channel #ourmap-tile-renderer. Each time a new build starts or finishes, the server broadcasts a message with a link to the live render feed.
The low cost of this project has been possible due to recent technological advancements by protomaps creator @bdon and planetiler creator @Mike_Barry. I transitioned from mbtiles to the pmtiles format and shifted from an AWS EFS+EC2 setup to an s3+Lambda+CloudFront framework. For those interested in the technical nitty-gritty, I delve into the details in my recent diary entry.
My new rendering server is literally an old laptop I had collecting dust. It tirelessly generates planet builds and uploads them to the cloud. This is possible thanks to recent improvements in planetiler which allows it to build the planet on modest hardware. The only trade-off is a longer build duration.
I hope this project and the links I’ve shared helps everyone get a clearer picture of how vector tile rendering and hosting work. Readily-available and affordable vector tile recipes help hobbyists and community projects focus more on the stuff that matters – digital cartography – and less on being an IT shop or cloud expert. It’s never been this cheap and easy to get started with vector tiles.
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Ce sujet de discussion accompagne la publication sur https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/a-community-vector-tile-server-with-2-3-daily-updates/102869