Typesofgeodatabases

Release9.3

Thegeodatabaseisa"container"usedtoholdacollectionofdatasets.Therearethreetypes:
1. FileGeodatabasesStoredasfoldersinafilesystem.Eachdatasetisheldasafilethatcanscale
upto1TBinsize.Thefilegeodatabaseisrecommendedoverpersonalgeodatabases.
2. PersonalGeodatabasesAlldatasetsarestoredwithinaMicrosoftAccessdatafile,whichislimited
insizeto2GB.
3. ArcSDEGeodatabasesStoredinarelationaldatabaseusingOracle,MicrosoftSQLServer,IBM
DB2,IBMInformix,orPostgreSQL.ThesemultiusergeodatabasesrequiretheuseofArcSDEand
canbeunlimitedinsizeandnumbersofusers.
Comparingthethreetypesofgeodatabases
Key
characteristics

ArcSDE
geodatabase

Description

Acollectionof
varioustypesofGIS
datasetsheldas
tablesinarelational
database
Therecommended
nativedataformat
forArcGISstored
andmanagedina
relationaldatabase

NumberofUsers

Multiuser
Manyreadersand
manywriters

Filegeodatabase

Personalgeodatabase

Acollectionofvarious
typesofGISdatasetsheld
inafilesystemfolder.

Originaldataformatfor
ArcGISgeodatabases
storedandmanagedin
MicrosoftAccessdatafiles.

Thisistherecommended
nativedataformatfor
ArcGISstoredand
managedinafilesystem
folder.

Singleuserandsmall
workgroups.
Manyreadersorone
writerperfeaturedataset,
standalonefeatureclass,
ortable.
Concurrentuseofany
specificfileeventually
degradesforlarge
numbersofreaders.

StorageFormat

Oracle
Microsoft
SQLServer
IBMDB2

Eachdatasetisaseparate
fileondisk.
Afilegeodatabaseisafile
folderthatholdsits
datasetfiles.

Thisislimitedinsizeand
tiedtotheWindows
operatingsystem.

Singleuserandsmall
workgroupswithsmaller
datasets.
Somereadersandone
writer.
Concurrentuseeventually
degradesforlarge
numbersofreaders.

Allthecontentsineach
personalgeodatabaseare
heldinasingleMicrosoft
Accessfile(.mdb).

IBM
Informix
PostgreSQL
SizeLimits

UptoDBMSlimits

OneTBforeachdataset.
Eachfilegeodatabasecan
holdmanydatasets.
The1TBlimitcanbe
raisedto256TBfor
extremelylargeimage
datasets.
Eachfeatureclasscan
scaleuptohundredsof
millionsofvectorfeatures
perdataset.

TwoGBperAccess
database.
Effectivelimitbefore
performancedegradesis
typicallybetween250and
500MBperAccess
databasefile.

Versioning
Support

Fullysupported
acrossallDBMSs
includescross
databasereplication,
updatesusing
checkoutandcheck
in,andhistorical
archiving

Onlysupportedasa
geodatabaseforclients
whopostupdatesusing
checkoutandcheckinand
asaclienttowhich
updatescanbesentusing
onewayreplication.

Onlysupportedasa
geodatabaseforclients
whopostupdatesusing
checkoutandcheckinand
asaclienttowhich
updatescanbesentusing
onewayreplication.

Platforms

Windows,UNIX,
Linux,anddirect
connectionsto
DBMSsthatcan
potentiallyrunon
anyplatformonthe
user'slocalnetwork

Crossplatform.

Windowsonly.

Securityand
Permissions

ProvidedbyDBMS

Operatingfilesystem
security.

Windowsfilesystem
security.

Database
Administration
Tools

FullDBMSfunctions
forbackup,recovery,
replication,SQL
support,security,
andsoon

Filesystemmanagement.

Windowsfilesystem
management.

Notes

Requirestheuseof
ArcSDEtechnology

Allowsyoutooptionally
storedatainareadonly
compressedformatto
reducestorage
requirements.

Oftenusedasanattribute
tablemanager(via
MicrosoftAccess).

ArcSDEforSQL
ServerExpress
includedwith
ArcEditor
andArcInfo

Userslikethestring
handlingfortext
attributes.

ArcGIS
Engine
ArcGIS
Serverfor
workgroups
ArcSDEforallother
DBMSsincludedwith
ArcGISServerfor
enterprises

Learnaboutcreatinggeodatabases.

Filegeodatabasesandpersonalgeodatabases
Fileandpersonalgeodatabases,whicharefreelyavailabletoallusersofArcView,ArcEditor,andArcInfo,are
designedtosupportthefullinformationmodelofthegeodatabase.Thisincludestopologies,rastercatalogs,
networkdatasets,terraindatasets,addresslocators,andsoon.Fileandpersonalgeodatabasesaredesigned
tobeeditedbyasingleuseranddonotsupportgeodatabaseversioning.Withafilegeodatabase,itis
possibletohavemorethanoneeditoratthesametime,providedtheyareeditingindifferentfeature
datasets,standalonefeatureclasses,ortables.
Thefilegeodatabasewasanewgeodatabasetypereleasedinversion9.2.Itsgoalsareto
Provideawidelyavailable,simple,andscalablegeodatabasesolutionforallusers.
Provideaportablegeodatabasethatworksacrossoperatingsystems.
Scaleuptohandleverylargedatasets.
Provideexcellentperformanceandscalability,forexample,tosupportindividualdatasets
containingwellover300millionfeaturesanddatasetsthatcanscalebeyond500GBperfilewith
veryfastperformance.
Useanefficientdatastructurethatisoptimizedforperformanceandstorage.Filegeodatabases

useaboutonethirdofthefeaturegeometrystoragerequiredbyshapefilesandpersonal
geodatabases.Filegeodatabasesalsoallowuserstocompressvectordatatoareadonlyformatto
reducestoragerequirementsevenfurther.
Outperformshapefilesforoperationsinvolvingattributesandscalethedatasizelimitswaybeyond
shapefilelimits.
PersonalgeodatabaseshavebeenusedinArcGISsincetheirinitialreleaseinVersion8.0andhaveusedthe
MicrosoftAccessdatafilestructure(the.mdbfile).Theysupportgeodatabasesthatarelimitedinsizeto2
GBorless.However,theeffectivedatabasesizeissmaller,somewherebetween250and500MB,beforethe
databaseperformancestartstoslowdown.PersonalgeodatabasesarealsoonlysupportedontheMicrosoft
Windowsoperatingsystem.UserslikethetableoperationstheycanperformusingMicrosoftAccesson
personalgeodatabases.ManyusersreallylikethetexthandlingcapabilitiesinMicrosoftAccessforworking
withattributevalues.
ArcGISwillcontinuetosupportpersonalgeodatabasesfornumerouspurposes.However,inmostcases,we
recommendusingfilegeodatabasesfortheirscalabilityinsize,significantlyfasterperformance,andcross
platformuse.ThefilegeodatabaseisidealforworkingwithfilebaseddatasetsforGISprojects,forpersonal
use,andforuseinsmallworkgroups.Ithasstrongperformanceandscaleswelltoholdextremelylargedata
volumeswithoutrequiringtheuseofaDBMS.Plus,itisportableacrossoperatingsystems.
Typically,userswillemploymultiplefileorpersonalgeodatabasesfortheirdatacollectionsandaccessthese
simultaneouslyfortheirGISwork.

ArcSDEgeodatabases
Whenyouneedalargemultiusergeodatabasethatcanbeeditedandusedsimultaneouslybymanyusers,
theArcSDEgeodatabaseprovidesagoodsolution.Itaddstheabilitytomanageashared,multiuser
geodatabaseaswellassupportforanumberofcriticalversionbasedGISworkflows.Theabilitytoleverage
yourorganization'senterpriserelationaldatabasesisakeyadvantageoftheArcSDEgeodatabase.
ArcSDEgeodatabasesworkwithavarietyofDBMSstoragemodels(IBMDB2,Informix,Oracle,PostgreSQL,
andSQLServer).ArcSDEgeodatabasesareprimarilyusedinawiderangeofindividual,workgroup,
department,andenterprisesettings.TheytakefulladvantageofunderlyingDBMSarchitecturestosupport
Extremelylarge,continuousGISdatabases
Manysimultaneoususers
Longtransactionsandversionedworkflows
RelationaldatabasesupportforGISdatamanagement(providingthebenefitsofarelational
databaseforscalability,reliability,security,backup,integrity,etc.)
SQLtypesforSpatialinallsupportedDBMS's(i.e.,Oracle,SQLServer,PostgreSQL,Informix,and
DB2)
Highperformancethatcanscaletoaverylargenumberofusers
Throughmanylargegeodatabaseimplementations,ithasbeenfoundthatDBMSsareefficientatmovingin
andoutoftablesthetypeoflargebinaryobjectsrequiredforGISdata.Inaddition,GISdatabasesizesand
thenumberofsupporteduserscanbemuchlargerthanwithfilebasedGISdatasets.
ForinformationabouttheArcSDEgeodatabasearchitectureandhowArcSDEgeodatabasesleverage
relationaldatabasetechnology,seeArchitectureofthegeodatabase.
ArcSDEprovideslongandshorttransactionmanagementontheDBMStransactionframework
OneoftheprimaryrolesforArcSDEistosupportthegeodatabaseversioningframeworkineachDBMS.
Quitefrequently,anindividualeditingtransactioninaGIScaninvolvechangestomultiplerowsinmultiple
tables.Forexample,updatingaparcelmayrequirethatyouchangethepolygon'srepresentationalongwith
changingthecorrespondingboundarylinesandparcelcorners.Inaddition,attributerecordsforeachofthese
featuresmustbeupdatedaswell.Thiseditinvolvesmakingchangestomultiplerecordsinmanytables.In
thesecases,userswanttotreatthiscollectionofeditsasasingletransaction.Whenthechangesare
committedorrolledback,theyaremanagedtogetherasaunifiedoperation.
Atthesametime,userswanttheabilitytoundoandredoindividualeditoperationswithinaneditsession.To
furthercomplicatethissituation,theeditsmayneedtobeperformedinasystemthatisdisconnectedfrom
thecentral,shareddatabase.
Furthermore,duringthesespecializedGISdatamaintenanceprocesses,theGISdatabasemustremain
continuouslyavailablefordailyoperations,whereeachusermighthaveapersonalvieworstateofthe
sharedGISdatabase.
TheArcSDEgeodatabasesupportsthemanagementandupdatesfortheseandmanyotherdata
managementscenariosinamultiuserenvironmentbyusingamethodcalledversioning.Versioningisa
mechanisminwhichalldatabasechangesarerecordedasrowsintables.Forexample,eachtimeyouupdate

avalueinarow,theoldrowis"retired"andanew,updatedrowisadded.
Inthisway,ArcSDEtechnologymanagessuchhighlevel,complexGIStransactionsonthesimpleDBMS
transactionframeworkbystoringchangeinformationasdeltarecordsinthedatabase.
NOTE:Thismechanismformaintainingrecordsofallchangesalongwiththeirmetadataisthegenesisof
thetermversioning.

ArcSDEusesmetadataaboutversionstoisolatemultipleeditsessions,supportcomplextransactions,share
replicas,synchronizecontentsacrossmultipledatabases,performautomaticarchiving,andsupporthistorical
queries.
SeeAnoverviewofeditingandmaintainingdataformoreinformation.
HowisArcSDEtechnologyincludedinArcGIS?
Inthepast,ArcSDEwassoldasaseparateESRIproduct.StartingwithArcGIS9.2,ArcSDEtechnologyhas
beenincludedascapabilitieswithinArcGISratherthanbeingofferedasaseparateproduct.ArcSDE
technologyhasbeenintegratedintoArcGISDesktop,ArcGISEngine,andArcGISServersothatuserscan
scaletheirDBMSbasedgeodatabasesacrosstheirorganizations.

BeginningatArcGIS9.2,ArcEditorandArcInfohaveincludedtheMicrosoftSQLServerExpressdatabasefree
ofcharge.ThesesoftwareproductsalsoincludeArcSDEcapabilitiestosupportArcSDEgeodatabasesinSQL
ServerExpressforuptothreesimultaneousdesktopusers.
BeginningwithArcGIS9.3,ArcGISEngineincludessupportforSQLServerExpressfreeofcharge.The
optionalGeodatabaseUpdateextensionforArcGISEngineisrequiredforArcGISEngineapplicationsthatedit
geodatabases.YoucanlearnmoreaboutArcGISEngineinthebooknamedWhatisArcGIS9.3?
MicrosoftlimitstheuseofSQLServerExpresstooneCPU(orCorewithinaSocket)andtoutilize1GBof
RAM.ThemaximumdatabasesizeforSQLServerExpressislimitedto4GB.
WithinArcEditorandArcInfo,theArcCatalogapplicationprovidestheabilityforyoutofullyadministerand
manageArcSDEgeodatabasesusingSQLServerExpress.ThisprovidesfullArcSDEgeodatabasecapabilities
foruptoafewusersatatime.YousetupandmanagetheseArcSDEgeodatabaseswithinArcCatalog.No
extrasoftwareordatabaseadministrationexpertiseisrequired.
ArcGISServerWorkgroupalsoincludesArcSDEsupportforSQLServerExpress.WiththislevelofArcSDE,
youcanuseSQLServerExpressforupto10simultaneousWindowsdesktopusersandeditors(usersof
ArcView,ArcEditor,ArcInfo,acustomArcGISEngineapplication,AutoCAD,MicroStation,andsoon)plusany
numberofadditionalserverconnectionsfromWebapplications.(Consultyourlicenseagreementforspecific
informationonthenumberofconnectionsforyourimplementation.)
Fortheworkgroupserver,youcanuseArcEditororArcInfotocreate,administer,andmanageArcSDE
geodatabasesforSQLServerExpresswithinArcCatalog.Noextradatabaseadministrationexpertiseis
required.
TheArcGISServerEnterpriseincludesfullenterpriseArcSDEtechnologywithnolimits.Youcanstillrunthe
traditionalArcSDEtechnologyforOracle,SQLServer,PostgreSQL,IBMDB2,andIBMInformix.ArcSDE

supportintheEnterpriseServerlevelcanscaletodatabasesofanysizeandnumberofusersandrunson
computersofanysizeandconfiguration.WithArcGISServerEnterprise,youprovideyourownDBMSlicense
forthislevelofArcSDEuse.Choicesinclude
Oracle
MicrosoftSQLServer
IBMInformix
IBMDB2
PostgreSQL
TheDBMSistypicallyadministeredandmanagedbyadatabaseadministrator(DBA).
Summarypoints
YoudonotneedtomonitorandmanagetheuseofyourmemoryandCPUsforSQLServerExpress.
TheSQLServerExpresssoftwarewillautomaticallylimitcomputeruseto1GBRAMonasingle
CPUandtoadatabasesizeof4GB.
UnliketheMicrosoftAccessdatabase,SQLServerExpressperformancedoesnotdegradeasthe
databasesizeapproachesitsmaximumsizelimit(4GB).
ArcSDEforSQLServerExpressisincludedfreeasapartofArcEditorandArcInfo.Ifyouchooseto
installSQLServerExpress,youcanadministerSQLServerExpressdatabasesusingArcCatalog.
WhenyouinstallArcGISServerforWorkgroups,youcaninstallanduseSQLServerExpressand
ArcSDE.AfterinstallingSQLServerExpress,youcanuseArcCataloginyourArcEditororArcInfo
seattoadministerSQLServerExpressdatabasesforyourWorkgroupserver.
ThesevariouslevelsenableuserstotakefulladvantageofArcSDEgeodatabasesforanynumberof
users,largeorsmall.Thisallowsorganizationstohaveonescalabledataarchitecturethatworks
acrosstheirsingleusersystemsupintotheirlargeenterprisesystems.

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