Operational experience with the ALICE pixel detector

The Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) constitutes the two innermost layers of the Inner Tracking System of the ALICE experiment and it is the closest detector to the interaction point. As a vertex detector, it has the unique feature of generating a trigger signal that contributes to the L0 trigger of the ALICE experiment. The SPD started collecting data since the very first pp collisions at LHC in 2009 and since then it has taken part in all pp, Pb-Pb and p-Pb data taking campaigns. This contribution will present the main features of the SPD, the detector performance and the operational experience, including calibration and optimization activities from Run 1 to Run 2