Geospatial data is a collection of points, lines, and polygons that describe places on the earth. The data is stored in computer systems as digital files or databases, and accessed by applications that use the map-like displays to allow users to interact with the data.
GeoServer is an open-source (free) server that allows you to publish your spatial data from any major spatial data source using open standards. There are several options for publishing geospatial data, but GeoServer is designed for interoperability, meaning you can make sure that your data formats are compatible with those of other users. This means you can publish once and access your data from any system capable of interpreting it.
GeoServer also provides tools for editing and processing geospatial data that are similar to the tools available in ArcGIS, a popular GIS (geographic information system) software application. It’s also possible to export your data into other formats such as CSV (comma separated values) or XML (extensible markup language).
GeoServer is a powerful tool for anyone who needs to exchange data between different software tools — say, for example, you’re working on a website that requires map tiles from Google Maps and wants to display them on your website. With GeoServer, you can publish the maps directly from Google and have them appear on your site. GeoServer will also allow you to view other users’ data with an intuitive web interface.
GeoServer is a powerful, open-source geospatial data processing server. It’s designed to be easy to set up and use, with support for all major spatial data standards. GeoServer supports the COBieR geocoding service, which lets you query a number of different sources using the same interface in your application.
The downside of GeoServer’s free version is that it requires using Tomcat as the Web server. This application server is fairly old, and while it is able to run on some more recent platforms, it is still supported only by Oracle Corporation (Tomcat 8’s successor).