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User-managed data stores in ArcGIS Enterprise

Administrators and publishers in an ArcGIS Enterprise portal can register user-managed data stores with federated ArcGIS Server sites. This allows you to publish ArcGIS Server web services that run on the portal's federated servers. When you publish, no data is copied; the web services reference the data in the registered data store.

Prior to 10.7.1, you could only register data stores directly with an ArcGIS Server site through ArcGIS Server Manager, register data stores in ArcGIS Pro, or register data stores for GIS Server publisher or administrator connections in ArcMap.

Beginning with 10.7.1, you can register these user-managed data stores by adding a data store item to the portal. When you add a data store item, you register a data source with one or more federated ArcGIS GIS Server or ArcGIS Image Server sites. Each federated server can have multiple data store items registered to it.

These data store items provide much of the same functionality as those you register in ArcGIS Server Manager, ArcGIS Pro, or ArcMap, but they also allow you to do the following:

  • Control use of the data store contents by sharing the data store item. How you share the data store item determines who can use it when publishing in ArcGIS Server Manager, ArcGIS Pro, or ArcMap. Sharing settings on folder and cloud data store items also affects who can create imagery layers from them in the portal.
  • Create web layers in bulk from database data store items.

Note:

It is still possible to register data stores directly with an ArcGIS Server site through ArcGIS Server Manager, ArcGIS Pro, or ArcMap; however, when you register data stores using any of these apps, no data store item is created in the portal, you do not get the functionality listed above, and data store registration is managed exclusively within the individual ArcGIS Server site (or sites) with which you registered the data store.

Types of data store items

When you add a data store item to a portal, you choose a data source that contains data to publish, and you choose the federated servers that can access the data. Once added, there are specific types of layers you can publish from this data store item in the portal website.

The following table describes the type of data stores you can add as items in the portal, what you can publish from each, and what type of layer is created in the portal as a result of publishing:

Data store item typeWhat you can registerWhat you can publish from the data store itemLayer item type

Folders

File shares

ArcGIS Server image services*

Imagery layer

Databases

Database connection files (.sde) that access supported versions of the following database management systems:

Databases can contain an enterprise geodatabase, but they don't have to.

ArcGIS Server feature services**

One feature layer and one map image layer is created for each feature class and table to which the registered database user has access.

Note:

If you do not want anyone to edit data using these feature layers, be sure the database connection you use when you add the data store connects as a user that has been granted only select privileges on the feature classes and tables in the database.

Cloud storage

Any of the following cloud storage locations:

  • Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service (OSS) buckets
  • Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets
  • Microsoft Azure Blob storage containers

ArcGIS Server image services*

Imagery layer

*To publish imagery layers, the data store must be registered with your portal's raster analysis server or image hosting server.

**To bulk publish feature layers, the data store must be registered with a federated ArcGIS GIS Server site.

Adding a data store item in the portal registers the data source with the ArcGIS Server site or sites you specify. If you access the same source location (folder or database using the same credentials) from ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap and publish to one of these sites, you don't need to register the data store again.

Data access

Adding data store items to your portal makes it easier to share GIS data across your organization. You need to balance ease of access with the need to keep data secure. When you use data store items, access is controlled at multiple levels. See Controlling access to data published from data store items for details.

Adding and using data store items

See the following to learn how to add and use data stores in the portal: