GeoWebCache

GeoWebCache is an open-source project that provides a caching layer for web map tiles. It is designed to improve the performance and scalability of web mapping applications by serving pre-rendered map tiles instead of generating them on-the-fly for every request. This reduces the load on the backend map server and speeds up tile delivery to the client.

The primary goal of GeoWebCache is to accelerate map rendering in web clients by storing tiles in a local cache. When a map request is made, GeoWebCache first checks if the requested tile is already present in its cache. If it is, the tile is served directly from the cache. If not, GeoWebCache retrieves the tile from the underlying map server, caches it, and then serves it to the client. This significantly reduces the latency experienced by users.

GeoWebCache supports various tile formats, including PNG, JPEG, and GIF, and can be configured to cache tiles at different zoom levels and resolutions. It can be deployed as a standalone caching proxy or integrated directly into web mapping servers like GeoServer. Its flexible architecture allows it to work with different tile matrix sets and projections.

The project is part of the GeoTools ecosystem and is widely used in applications that require high-performance map delivery, such as large-scale web mapping portals, geographic information systems, and mobile mapping applications. By offloading tile rendering from the map server, GeoWebCache enables these applications to handle a greater number of concurrent users and requests more efficiently.