Service types

Many different types of services can be published to ArcGIS Enterprise, each performing a unique task within the ecosystem. All ArcGIS Enterprise services are authored in ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro. Many different service types exist; here, we will focus on several of the most common ones. Consult the ArcGIS Server online documentation for a more extensive list of the available service types.

What is a service?

Before going any further, let's discuss just what exactly a service is. At its core, ArcGIS Server operates on a spatially enabled service-oriented architecture, or SOA. With an SOA, services are provided by application components through a protocol over a network. For ArcGIS Server, the services are map services, feature services, and so on; the application component providing the service is ArcGIS Server, the protocol is HTTP, and the network could be an intranet, the internet, or both. With ArcGIS Server, think of services as a representation of that service from where it...