I see from other forums/the esri documentation that service definitions can be a very useful, versatile file. I'm wondering, though, why it's a separate item in ArcGIS Online (agol).
If it's necessary to have online with the layer, why can't this be something "embedded" in the feature layer?
I saw a forum that suggested they can be a backup-- is there a better data management solution for users to keep their content organized than these free hanging service definitions?
It can be frustrating to sift through folders of content and have to digest the duplicative service definitions in the list in addition to the ones whose titles are no longer the same as the feature they support. Further, it's redundant to authoritate both a feature layer and SD for the same thing, so that can create another content management painpoint when scrolling through libraries in agol.
I'm probably missing some obvious reasonings, so any intel is helpful!!
