Valued MapPoint Web Service evaluation customer,

 

Microsoft is in the process of enhancing the load balancing system for the MapPoint Web Service. For most of you, this change will be transparent. However, if you store the MapPoint Web Service IP addresses in your system’s firewalls—or those of your hosting company—you will need to update your firewalls as described below.

Benefits of the new system

The enhanced load balancing systems provides the following benefits:

·         Improves the MapPoint Web Service scalability which helps improve your application’s overall performance.

·         Provides SSL for all the APIs; MapPoint will now allow return map image url’s using SSL (refer to the MapReturnType enumeration documentation for more information on returning secure map image url).

What this means to you

·         If you do not currently configure your firewall to open connections to particular IP addresses: No action is required.

·         If you currently configure your firewalls—or those of your hosting company—to open connections to particular IP addresses: All IP addresses from the following ranges must be added in the firewalls no later than Friday, September 12, 2003:

Network	Use	Comments
207.46.141.0/25 207.46.135.0/25	External Network	Public web servers

Note: MapPoint Web Service servers use standard ports. Most customers need allow only outbound connections to our IPs on HTTP (80/TCP) and HTTPS (443/TCP).

 

Additional information regarding this update will be provided under Service Announcements on the Customer Service site in the near future.

Project details

Microsoft will be using DNS to gradually direct all MapPoint services/URLs to the new IP addresses starting Monday, September 15, 2003. All MapPoint services will be directed to the new load balancing IP addresses by Wednesday, September 17, 2003. In order to ensure uninterrupted service, both the old and new IP addresses will be available for at least a week and we will monitor the traffic before shutting down the old virtual IP addresses.

Service availability during data update

MapPoint Customer Services site availability

The Customer Services Site will be unaffected by this change.

 

MapPoint Web Service performance (staging and production)

There is also no anticipated impact on the MapPoint Web Service, provided you correctly incorporate the above IP addresses in your firewall.

 

For additional information, please go to the MapPoint Web Service Customer Services site.