Editor’s note: Originally published by SSP Innovations under SSP MIMS. Updated by the 3-GIS Team with the current product name, 3-GIS | MIMS, and other revisions.
3-GIS | MIMS includes an alternative to real-time synchronization with ArcGIS Server for one-way feature services. This method, called packet-based synchronization, allows incremental updates to be managed and distributed by MIMS Gateway rather than handled directly by ArcGIS Server.
With this approach, changes to facility data are packaged into update packets that mobile clients download from the gateway. This reduces the number of requests sent directly to enterprise systems and improves synchronization performance when working with large datasets.
Key benefits include:
- Faster sync performance for large facility datasets
- All clients sync a single change packet from MIMS Gateway instead of repeatedly hitting ArcGIS Server or the database server
- MIMS Admin users control the frequency of change packet generation
- MIMS Gateway manages persistence and cleanup of change packets
Real-time vs. packet-based sync
MIMS supports two methods for synchronizing one-way facility data: real-time synchronization and packet-based synchronization.
This article covers how to configure and manage both approaches, including:
- Configuring a new real-time one-way incremental data source
- Configuring a new packet-based one-way incremental data source
- Switching from real-time to packet-based sync
- Switching from packet-based to real-time sync
- MIMS Data Management incremental process
- MIMS Sync Runtime Plugin process
Items to note
There are a few things to keep in mind when working with these synchronization methods.
Switching between packet-based and real-time synchronization requires a full recreation of the geodatabase replica. When this occurs, mobile clients must download the entire dataset again.
Once a data source is enabled in the MIMS Data Management Add-In, it becomes available for assignment to configuration groups and can be configured for search in the MIMS Mobile Configuration Add-In.
Packet-based synchronization is only available for one-way feature services. Services published as two-way cannot use this method.
Implementing packet-based synchronization does not require special setup. After updating MIMS, the configuration option appears in the MIMS configuration settings. Existing feature services can be switched by adjusting the sync type and saving the change. MIMS Data Management and MIMS Sync automatically detect and apply the update.
For more detailed configuration guidance, see Configure Incremental Data Sources in the product documentation.
Configuration options and workflow
Use the following diagrams to see how workflows differ depending on your current configuration:
Note that Packet-Based sync still requires connectivity to check with ArcGIS Server that the local data source is a replica derived from a published (active) feature service that should be updated. When confirmed, the change packet will be issued by MIMS Gateway rather than ArcGIS Server.
What this means for synchronization in MIMS
Choosing between real-time and packet-based incremental sync depends largely on how your data behaves and how frequently it changes.
Real-time synchronization works well for smaller datasets and environments where updates are relatively simple. Packet-based synchronization shifts the update process to MIMS Gateway, which reduces load on enterprise systems and improves performance as datasets grow.
Before switching between methods, it is important to understand the operational impact. Because changing sync types requires rebuilding the geodatabase replica, mobile devices must download a full dataset again.
When used in the right scenario, packet-based synchronization provides an efficient way to keep mobile datasets current while reducing unnecessary load on ArcGIS Server and database infrastructure.
3-GIS | MIMS helps utilities standardize mobile workflows while keeping inspection and asset data synchronized between the field and the enterprise system of record.
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