There are a small number of management tasks you perform on file and personal geodatabases. Some of these tasks, such as creating spatial or attribute indexes on the feature classes in the geodatabase, compacting the geodatabase, or compressing data, can improve performance.
The following table compares the management tasks you can perform on file and personal geodatabases and links to more information on each task:
| Task | File geodatabase | Personal geodatabase |
|---|---|---|
Compress vector data to a read-only format to reduce storage requirements. | Yes | No |
Compact geodatabase to tidy up storage of a geodatabase on disk by reordering records and eliminating unused space. | Yes | Yes |
Create a licensed geodatabase to protect data you share with other people. | Yes | No |
Create attribute indexes to reduce attribute query processing times. | Yes | Yes |
Set the spatial grid index to minimize spatial query processing times. | Yes | Yes; however, the spatial index grid size can only be set when a feature class is created. |
Upgrade a previous version of a geodatabase to take advantage of new functionality and fixes. | Yes | Yes |
Rename a geodatabase. | Yes | Yes |
Move a geodatabase. | Yes This should be done using ArcGIS. | Yes This should be done using ArcGIS but can be done using Windows Explorer. |