Why would I install ArcSDE with 10.1?

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05-10-2012 11:01 AM
AlanToms
Occasional Contributor
Hello all,
Why would I install ArcSDE with 10.1?  It seems I can us ArcCatalog to create an enterprise geodatabase without SDE then have all my users use direct connections.  What am I missing?

Thank you
Alan
71 Replies
VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor
This is not an "either-or" situation. *EVERY* Direct Connect is *ALWAYS* an
ArcSDE connection.

As stated previously, the name "ArcSDE" applies to the technology used to
connect to enterprise geodatabases, the database components used to manifest
enterprise geodatabases, the 3-tier application server, and the 'C'/Java API.
The only part that is optional when working with enterprise geodatabases is
the application server.

Direct Connect still uses the 'C' API to interface with the RDBMS. Post-10.2,
Esri will no longer distribute the API SDK, but they will continue to use it, so it
really won't go away, just get pushed deeper into the software stack.

The application server component was always the thinnest and least significant
part to wear an "ArcSDE" label, but for whatever reason, became the most
famous -- this may be fueling the confusion (and the outrageous length of
this thread).

-V
TimHayes
Occasional Contributor III
Does this mean I can uninstall ArcSDE 10.1.1 from my Server Machine. Based on how I created my Enterprise Geodatabases (using the "Create Enterprise Geodatabase" Tool in ArcToolbox in 10.1.1) I am not using the ArcSDE "Application Server" (3-Tier) I am already using Direct Connect (2-Tier)?

If I understand correctly, the ArcSDE download option from the Licensing/Provisioning Site is actually the "ArcSDE Application Server" which is only used for the 3-Tier Model. However, there is another "component" of ArcSDE, that IS NOT the same as "ArcSDE Application Server" that runs inside/behind-the-scenes/deep inside the "stack" with the 2-Tier (Direct Connect) Model AND this "component" is automatically installed when ArcGIS for Server is installed?
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VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor
You can uninstall the 10.1 SP1 ArcSDE application server software if you are not using it.
Just because the 10.x installer uses Direct Connect, and some clients may be using Direct
Connect, doesn't mean that all clients are using Direct Connect.  If you never configured
your application server, then no one could use it, but if you did (e.g. there exists a running
service), then it would be wise to stop the service before removing it, just to see if anything
was using it.

ArcGIS Server is an ArcSDE client application.  That's all it ever takes for any application
to claim that it has a "component of ArcSDE" installed.  All ArcSDE clients have the ability
to make a Direct Connect connection to an enterprise geodatabase, including the Esri
command-line tools (distributed with and without the application server components)
and custom applications available elsewhere.  All it takes to make that connection is
the Direct Connect DLL appropriate to the database release and the database DLLs
necessary for the Direct Connect DLL to connect to the database (both are included
within the ArcGIS Server install, though you need to unpack some database client
libraries according to the instructions in order to use them).

- V
TimHayes
Occasional Contributor III
You can uninstall the 10.1 SP1 ArcSDE application server software if you are not using it.
Just because the 10.x installer uses Direct Connect, and some clients may be using Direct
Connect, doesn't mean that all clients are using Direct Connect.  If you never configured
your application server, then no one could use it, but if you did (e.g. there exists a running
service), then it would be wise to stop the service before removing it, just to see if anything
was using it.

ArcGIS Server is an ArcSDE client application.  That's all it ever takes for any application
to claim that it has a "component of ArcSDE" installed.  All ArcSDE clients have the ability
to make a Direct Connect connection to an enterprise geodatabase, including the Esri
command-line tools (distributed with and without the application server components)
and custom applications available elsewhere.  All it takes to make that connection is
the Direct Connect DLL appropriate to the database release and the database DLLs
necessary for the Direct Connect DLL to connect to the database (both are included
within the ArcGIS Server install, though you need to unpack some database client
libraries according to the instructions in order to use them).

- V



Thank you Mr. Angelo! I uninstalled ArcSDE 10.1.1 my SQL Server Enterprise Geodatabase connections still work. All is well. I FINALLY understand now. I get it. Turns out I was already using 2-Tier (Direct Connect).
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MarcoBoeringa
MVP Regular Contributor
All is well. I FINALLY understand now. I get it. Turns out I was already using 2-Tier (Direct Connect).


Good, and I really hope you had a good look at the PDFs I created and pointed out to you in the other thread, as they graphically show what Vince has written in his last posts here (and many before in other threads).

Direct Connect still uses the 'C' API to interface with the RDBMS. Post-10.2,
Esri will no longer distribute the API SDK, but they will continue to use it, so it
really won't go away, just get pushed deeper into the software stack.


Not unexpected, but another nice insight you are sharing here for people to learn from...

The application server component was always the thinnest and least significant
part to wear an "ArcSDE" label, but for whatever reason, became the most
famous
-- this may be fueling the confusion (and the outrageous length of
this thread)
.


So true...

Best,

Marco
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RickWarner
New Contributor III

So I am a single user 10.1, and don't share my files often or work in groups.

Are  there any reason why I would use SDE for my work?  I do use large databases, i.e. several gigabytes.  Is there any speed enhancements for queries using SDE?

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VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor

First of all, you need to understand that there is no longer any such thing as "SDE".  The technology was renamed "ArcSDE" at ArcGIS 8.0, and even "ArcSDE" isn't available as a product anymore (as of ArcGIS 9.2).  The current term of art is "enterprise geodatabase,"  which encompasses all RDBMS, Object-Relational, and NoSQL storage of spatial data, as accessed by ArcGIS through a Database Connection.

There may or may not be performance benefits from storing spatial data in a enterprise geodatabase.  Back in the infancy of SDE, some marketing reps were selling it as a "spatial data accelerator",  but that practice has been stopped.  There are benefits, but there are additional costs as well, starting with database installation and maintenance.  Shapefile and File Geodatabase formats will still generally outperform an RDBMS engine on a "draw all features" query, precisely because of the principal benefits of a transactional RDBMS (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, & Durability).  Enterprise databases usually allow for more sophisticated queries (because of the SQL language, or lack thereof) and more exotic indexing options, which often result in better performance with small query results from large tables.

"Several gigabytes" of data might not reach the conventional definition of "large" if you have a large number of wide string columns.  The definition is also somewhat elastic, since 200,000 complex polygons might be large while 500,000 points might not.  Certainly tens of millions of features would reach "large" or even "very large".  Mostly it's a matter of how you need to manage the data to do something useful with it.

In order to help you decide whether an enterprise geodatabase would be of a benefit to you, you'd need to provide quite a bit more information on the numbers and kinds of tables, with row counts and width indicators, and the kinds of operations which are commonly performed against your dataset.

- V

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FilipKrál
Occasional Contributor III

Hi, I am glad to see somebody brought this up.

I was so pleased when Esri announced that ArcSDE will be part of both Desktop and Server products since 9.2 but to this day I haven't been able to use it the way I expected on Desktop. Vince Angelo‌, could you please explain how or to what extent is ArcSDE technology available in ArcGIS for Desktop?

I thought I would be able to, for example, turn my PostGIS database on localhost into an "enterprise geodatabase" and use it fully in ArcGIS while I could still benefit from full SQL (SELECT) flexibility in pgAdmin or through ArcSDESQLExecute‌ tool.

However, whenever I try to set up a geodatabase on a proper RDBMS, it turns out that actually I cannot do it with ArcGIS for Desktop alone and that I need ArcGIS for Server to do that. For example Enable Enterprise Geodatabase‌ tool requires some kind of authorization file from ArcGIS for Server Enterprise.

So is it possible to create a geodatabase in a proper RDBMS with ArcGIS for Desktop only or not?

Regards,

Filip.

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VinceAngelo
Esri Esteemed Contributor

The documentation covers this.

Workgroup and Desktop geodatabases  (which are the part of ArcSDE technology embeded

in Desktop) are implemented with a SQL-Server Express database (only).  The GUI to access

these geodatabases is through the "Database Servers" connection type.


A full RDBMS like PostgreSQL requires an enterprise geodatabase (which is licensed by an
ArcGIS Server seat).  The GUI for enterprise geodatabase creation is in ArcGIS for Desktop

(Standard and Advanced licenses only), and access is through "Database Connections".

You can also access spatial data in a full RDBMS using Query Layers, which do not use ArcSDE

technology (and therefore also don't support multi-versioning, archiving, and geodatabase behaviors).

- V

FilipKrál
Occasional Contributor III

Thank you for this crystal clear explanation and the reference to docs.

I'm sure I went over that at some point but over time it got all mixed up in my head.

Much appreciated.

F.

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