Administrators and publishers in an ArcGIS Enterprise organization can add data store items that connect to user-managed data stores. User-managed data stores contain source data for ArcGIS Server web services that run on federated servers. When you publish, no data is copied; the web services reference the data in the data store.
There are multiple types of data stores you can connect to using a data store item in a portal. Each type provides different functionality, as described below.
When you add a data store item, you register the data source with one or more federated ArcGIS Server sites. Each federated server can have multiple data store items registered to it.
You can add a data store item in the portal. Another way to create a data store item is to register a data store to a federated ArcGIS Server site in ArcGIS Pro 2.5 and later.
These data store items provide the following:
- Ensures the ArcGIS Server site has access to the data to be published.
- Allows you to 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 or ArcGIS Pro. Sharing settings on folder and cloud data store items also affects who can create imagery layers from them in the portal.
- Allows the database data store item owner to create web layers in bulk if the data store references a relational database or enterprise geodatabase.
Note:
You can still register data stores directly with a federated ArcGIS Server site through ArcGIS Server Manager; however, this is not the recommended method. When you register data stores using these apps, no data store item is created in the portal 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 an organization, you choose an existing data source that contains data to publish, and you choose the federated servers that can access the data.
The following table describes the type of data stores you can add as items and the purpose of each:
| Data store item type | What you can register | Purpose of the data store item |
|---|---|---|
Folders | File shares | You can publish imagery layers* in the portal that reference files in the file share, publish map image layers from ArcGIS Pro 2.8 or later that reference files in the file share, and you can publish a tile layer, vector tile layer, or scene layer that references a cache stored in the file share from the portal or ArcGIS Pro. |
Databases | Database connection files (.sde) that access supported versions of the following relational database management systems or cloud data warehouses: Relational databases can contain an enterprise geodatabase, but they don't have to. Geodatabases are not supported in cloud data warehouses. If the organization includes a Knowledge Server, you can choose the NoSQL option and provide connection information for a Neo4j or ArangoDB database. See Considerations for Neo4j databases used as NoSQL data stores and Considerations for ArangoDB databases used as NoSQL data stores for more information. | For data store items that reference a cloud data warehouse, you can publish web layers in ArcGIS Pro. For data store items that reference a relational database management system, you can publish web layers in ArcGIS Pro, and you can publish map image layers and feature layers in bulk. When you bulk publish from the data store item, one feature layer and one map image layer** are 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 who has been granted only select privileges on the feature classes and tables in the database. Bulk publishing and editing are not supported for data in a cloud data warehouse. NoSQL data stores are registered with the portal's ArcGIS Knowledge Server site. Each data store can contain one knowledge graph that you create in ArcGIS Pro. That means you must register one NoSQL data store for each knowledge graph. |
Cloud storage | Any of the following cloud storage locations:
| You can publish imagery layers* in the portal or ArcGIS Pro. From the portal, you can also publish a tile layer, vector tile layer, or scene layer that references content stored in the cloud storage data store. |
Big data file share | Any of the following file storage locations:
| The data store item is a system item that you do not use directly. Instead, interact with the big data file share item for input to and to store output from GeoAnalytics Tools in the portal or ArcGIS Pro. |
*To publish imagery layers in the portal, the data store must be registered with your portal's raster analysis server or image hosting server.
**To bulk publish map image and 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. Database data store items that reference cloud data warehouses are registered with the portal's hosting server only. If you access the same source location (folder, database, or cloud data warehouse using the same credentials) from ArcGIS Pro 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 organization makes it easier to share GIS data. 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.
Methods for adding data store items
The method you use to add data store items to your organization depends on whether you need to register a new data store, want to create a data store item for an existing data store, or your existing data store is registered with multiple federated servers.
Add a data store in the portal
You can add a data store item from the My Content page in the portal, provided the data source was not previously registered with a federated server using ArcGIS Server Manager.
Register a data store in ArcGIS Pro
You can register a data store from ArcGIS Pro under the following conditions:
- You're registering a database connection or file share that was not previously registered to the ArcGIS Server site using ArcGIS Server Manager. ArcGIS Pro 2.5 or later is required to register a file share or a database connection that accesses a database or enterprise geodatabase. ArcGIS Pro 2.9 or later is required to register a database connection that accesses a cloud data warehouse.
- You're registering a NoSQL database. ArcGIS Pro 3.0 or later is required to register NoSQL databases.
Create a data store item for a data store registered with a federated server
If you used ArcGIS Server Manager to register a database or file share data store with a single ArcGIS Server site, the organization administrator can create a data store item for the existing registered data store. Situations for which you may need the organization administrator do this are as follows:
- When you registered the data store to the ArcGIS Server site, the site was a stand-alone ArcGIS Server site. The site was subsequently federated with the portal, and now you want to create a data store item for it.
- You registered the data store to a federated ArcGIS Server 10.7 or earlier site. Now that your ArcGIS Enterprise deployment is upgraded, you want to create a data store item for the data store.
- You registered the data store to a single ArcGIS Server site using ArcGIS Server Manager or ArcGIS Pro 2.4 or earlier.
Note:
If your data store is registered with multiple federated servers, and you used the same name for the data store when you registered it with each of those federated servers, the organization administrator must associate the data store item with each additional server, as described in the next section.
Create a data store item that is associated with multiple federated servers
This is the most complex situation. The organization administrator must create a data store item for the data store from one of the federated servers and use the federateDataItem REST operation to associate each of the other federated servers with the same data store item.
If the organization administrator does not use the federateDataItem REST operation to associate the additional federated servers—for example, you instead add federated servers to the item from the data store item page—you will end up with duplicate registered data stores. This results in the following:
- When you publish services from data in the data store, the publishing client will choose one of the duplicate data stores. You do not have control over which one it uses and you have no way to identify which one it did use.
- If the data store is a registered database, you must keep both the new data store item and the old registered database data store. If you do not—for example, if you delete the registered database data store in an attempt to clean up the duplication—and the password changes for the account that is accessing the database, the services that reference the deleted data store will no longer function.
Get started using data store items
See the following to learn how to use and manage data store items in the portal: