NOTE: Applies to geodatabases created with an ArcGIS Server Enterprise license only

As mentioned in the topic About new installations of the ArcSDE component, you typically install and configure your DBMS first. Configuring the DBMS involves setting up storage spaces for the tables, indexes, and files that are stored in the database instance and providing adequate memory allocation. You should give consideration to the names, types, and locations of tables, indexes, and storage spaces you create; how large to make your backup log files; and what size to make the temporary space. As the database administrator, you know the naming conventions used at your site as well as what type of configuration your site requires. However, Recommendations to minimize disk I/O contention and DBMS initialization parameter recommendations offer some specific tips on setting up your DBMS to work more efficiently with ArcSDE.

You must also decide in what language your data will be stored. If you want to set up your database to use languages other than the default language of the DBMS, you will need to configure your DBMS for that. To learn more about setting up your DBMS to use different character encoding standards, see Language support in the geodatabase.

In general, to use an ArcSDE geodatabase, the default configuration settings are sufficient.

There are exceptions to this:

• The settings for default table spaces for data in DB2
Since each site has unique names for the table spaces in its databases, the default dbtune file doesn't contain default table space names. You need to uncomment the lines for table space names under the DEFAULTS configuration keyword and specify your table space names. If you do not do this, when data is loaded, it will be loaded into the DBMS default table space, which is usually small.
You can set default table space names for data in Oracle too. If you do not, data will be created in the user's default table space. Whether this will have a negative impact on performance depends on the size allotted to the user default table spaces and how much data the user will load.
• The service name and port number, if you set up an ArcSDE service using the sdemon administration command
If you want to use an ArcSDE service for some or all of the connections to your geodatabase, you need to specify the service name and port number in the services.sde file. This is only true if you have installed ArcSDE on a UNIX machine or if you want to use the sdemon command to start the service on a Windows machine. For more information on the services.sde file, see The services.sde file.

NOTE: You will always use this command if running an ArcSDE service on UNIX or Linux, but on Windows, you have the option to use the Windows Services menu instead. If you use the Windows Services menu, you don't have to set the service name and port number.

Other configuration setting changes you make depend on how you use the geodatabase. Some of these functions and settings are listed in the table below.

What you want to do	Configuration in the geodatabase	Where to find details
Use data stored in an ArcSDE geodatabase with ArcGIS Desktop.	Data tables must be registered with a row ID column that is maintained by ArcSDE.	Registering tables to be used by ArcGIS Desktop
Geocode	Create locators.	Locators in the geodatabase
Use ArcIMS Metadata Services.	Configure your database to use XML columns and text indexing.	XML columns in the geodatabase Configuring a database to support XML columns
Use a nondefault ArcSDE log file configuration.	Alter specific parameters in the SERVER_CONFIG and DBTUNE tables.	Log file configuration options
Specify a different ArcSDE log file configuration for a specific user.	Create a user-specific LOGFILE keyword in the DBTUNE table.	Log file keywords

What you affect when you configure ArcSDE

When you configure the ArcSDE geodatabase, you are affecting

• System tables—These tables control database storage and resource allocation and keep track of all the objects, locks, changes, versions, rules, and relationships in the geodatabase. They also store information that is important to geodatabase functionality such as object IDs and metadata.
Tip
• You can download the ArcSDE database object model diagram (OMD). The diagram shows the ArcSDE and geodatabase system tables present in the ArcSDE geodatabase schema. The file is in PDF format, so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it.
ArcSDE 9.3 OMD
Depending on your implementation, some of the tables or columns in the diagram may not be present in your database. The type of DBMS you use is one factor that would affect this.
The DBTUNE and SERVER_CONFIG tables are the only system tables you can update directly. Altering the settings in these tables is done using the sdedbtune and sdeconfig commands, respectively. All other system tables should be considered read-only.
• User-defined objects—These include the tables and layers users add to the geodatabase. When you configure the geodatabase, you set how and where these are stored by making changes to parameter values in the DBTUNE system table.
Oracle, SQL Server, and PostgreSQL DBMSs offer different geometry storage types for you to use. You can set a default geometry type for data storage, and you can specify different geometry types for specific tables or layers when they are created. This is also set in the DBTUNE table.
To learn more about the DBTUNE table, see The dbtune file and the DBTUNE table.
• Client connections—The type of connections used (ArcSDE service or direct connections) must be configured. Optionally, how each connected client utilizes server and database resources can be configured.
How resources are used by connected clients is controlled by settings in the SERVER_CONFIG system table. For more information on the SERVER_CONFIG table, see The giomgr.defs file and the SERVER_CONFIG system table.
• Configuration files—For some configuration changes, you will use the configuration files found in the SDEHOME/etc directory. The following table summarizes the names and uses of these files and contains links to further information on them.

File name	Purpose	Contains	When read	Altered by
giomgr.defs	Populates the SERVER_CONFIG repository table	Server initialization parameters that define how ArcSDE uses memory	When the SERVER_CONFIG table is created	For most ArcSDE component installations, you won't need to alter this file. Before creation of the repository tables, edit the giomgr.defs file with a text editor. After the SERVER_CONFIG table is created, use the sdeconfig administration command to alter parameters.
dbtune.sde	Controls table and layer storage, populates the DBTUNE table	Configuration strings that ArcSDE appends to CREATE TABLE and CREATE INDEX SQL statements	When the DBTUNE table is created	Before creation of the repository, edit the dbtune.sde file in a text editor. After the DBTUNE table is created, use sdedbtune to edit the table.
services.sde	Stores unique name and port number for an ArcSDE instance; only applicable if using an ArcSDE service	Service name and port number	UNIX: Each time the service is started Windows: Only when the service is started from the MS-DOS prompt	Edit the file directly in a text editor, then restart the ArcSDE service.
dbinit.sde	Optional file, used to avoid relying on environment variables that are set when the user logs in (Useful mostly on UNIX platforms)	Environment variables that supplement or override the user's environment variables	Each time the ArcSDE service is started	Edit the dbinit.sde file in a text editor.