What is ArcSDE?
The Arc Spatial Database Engine (ArcSDE) technology enables geodatabases to be stored and managed in a relational database management system (RDBMS) such as DB2, Informix, Oracle, SQL Server, and SQL Server Express.
ArcSDE adds the following capabilities to geodatabases:
- It defines how spatial data is stored and managed in a DBMS
- ArcSDE enables support for version management of geodatabases. This enables use by multiple, simultaneous users and editors, supports distributed geodatabases, and enables historical archiving of all updates.
- ArcSDE supports spatial types for SQL in all DBMS's using the ISO and OGC SQL Multi-media standard for SQL.
To learn more about ArcSDE technology, see What is ArcSDE? in the ArcGIS help system.
To learn more about versioning, replication and archiving see the following topics in the ArcGIS help system: