At its most basic level, an ArcGIS geodatabase is a collection of geographic datasets of various types held in a common file system folder, or a multiuser relational database management system such as IBM Db2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, or SAP HANA.

A key geodatabase concept is the dataset. It is the primary mechanism used to organize and use geographic information in ArcGIS. The geodatabase contains three primary dataset types: Feature classes; Raster datasets; Tables; Creating a collection of these dataset types is the first step in designing and building a geodatabase.

Enterprise geodatabases —Also known as multiuser geodatabases, enterprise geodatabases are stored in relational databases. They can be virtually unlimited in size and number of users; the limits differ depending on the database management system (DBMS) vendor. A collection of various types of GIS datasets held as tables in a relational database.

A Geodatabase is a proprietary GIS file format developed in the late 1990s by Esri (a GIS software vendor) to represent, store, and organize spatial datasets within a geographic information system.

There are three types of geodatabases supported in ArcGIS Pro: file, mobile, and enterprise geodatabases. The file geodatabase (.gdb) is the default geodatabase for your ArcGIS Pro projects. It exists as a collection of files in a folder on disk that store spatial and nonspatial data.

A geodatabase is a spatial data storage format that can contain multiple datasets of geographic features and non-spatial tabular data, as well as attachments, field domain definitions, and relationships between layers / tables.

This session will provide an overview of enterprise geodatabases. It will introduce you to the basics of creating an enterprise geodatabase, loading and securing data, editing, multi-users, and performing essential administration tasks.

Esri’s GIS software is the most powerful mapping & spatial analytics technology available. Learn about Esri’s geospatial mapping software for business and government.

Geodatabases store geometry, a spatial reference system, attributes, and behavioral rules for data. Various types of geographic datasets can be collected within a geodatabase, including feature classes, attribute tables, raster datasets, network datasets, topologies, and many others.

In this tutorial, you will use ArcCatalog and ArcMap to create a geodatabase that models a water utility network. You will add behavior to the geodatabase by creating subtypes, validation rules, relationships, and a geometric network.