Why buy an ESRI ArcGIS Server license if SQLServer 2012 can read geometry data types?

[FionaRenton]

I still can't find the answer to this question and am wondering if I am misunderstanding something. 

Why do we need to buy an ESRI ArcGIS Server license if SQLServer 2012 can read geometry data types?

We currently:

• write stored SQL procedures to query the geometry data types for simple polygon and line GIS layers
• use the database as a read only GIS library for a few shared GIS layers for a few ArcGIS Desktop users.

We pay another agency to host our map services.

I'm currently loading feature classes into SQLServer 2012 using ArcCatalog 10.2.2 (ArcGIS Advanced) and a direct connection to the database, without having used the "Create geodatabase tool" which requires an ArcServer authorization key. 

What additional functionality does enabling a geodatabase in SQLServer 2012 give us?

Thanks,

Fiona

[George_Thompson · Accepted solution]

Hi Fiona,

When you are storing spatial data in a SQL Server database (non-geodatabase) you are not able to use some of the advanced functionality that makes it a geodatabase.

Below is a list of some functions that are able to be performed in the geodatabase, that would not be available within a "regular" SQL Server database.

• Versioning
• Esri Replication
• Multiuser Editing
• Relationships
• Mosiac Datasets
• Editor Tracking
• Archiving

There are many more functions that are available that I have not listed. Here is a site that has a lot of information related to geodatabases and what they can help you accomplish: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/geodatabase

Hopefully this will give you some more information.

-George

Geodatabase‌

[FionaRenton]

Thanks for the clarification. For this project we don't need multiuser editing yet.