ArcGIS Image Server enables two types of image management: User Managed and Curated. The User Managed scenario is based on individual who have images/rasters uploading them to the server where if required the images are mosaiced and then streamed as tiled or dynamic imagery. This is good if many users in an organization want to contribute and share images they have. The Curated scenario is where the imagery is stored on a network (or cloud) storage and then the curator creates a mosaic dataset of the images. A mosaic dataset is a data model optimized for managing imagery. It is stored in a database, references the images and defines processing that may need to be applied to the imagery when it is accessed. The mosaic dataset can then be persisted as a tile cache or tiled imagery and served as (pre) tiled imagery or the mosaic dataset can be served as a dynamic image service in which case the server performs the required image processing and mosaicking of the imagery on-the-fly as it is accessed. The dynamic capabilities are very extensive and enables many derived imagery products to be accessed without the need to pre-process or store the different products. Many of these capabilities are also available in ArcGIS Image for ArcGIS Online.
