I am trying to learn more about Mosaic Datasets and specifically how they interact with ArcSDE (SQL Server 2008). I read in How raster data is stored in a geodatabase that "...In the case of the mosaic dataset, this table remains empty, since the raster data for a mosaic dataset is not stored in the DBMS; instead, the raster data is referenced from an image file..."
Presumably this means that if I perform the Mosaic Dataset -> Add Rasters operation using files on the same machine as SDE then a file location is inserted into the murky depths of SDE. However, what if I connect to SDE remotely and Add Rasters from a different machine? I can only assume that SDE has a default directory to which the files are copied but I can't find anything about it, even in Mosaic datasets in a geodatabase in SQL Server.
I did find a table named <schema>.AMD_<mosaic name>_CAT
which includes a field Uri
("A serialized Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that is used to re-create the raster dataset") but it means nothing to me.
The test server in this case just has a single partition, but what if I wanted SDE to store mosaic dataset images on a separate drive for performance? How would I go about changing the default location, or even finding out what it is?
Any input very much appreciated.