Data store

A data store is a repository for persistently storing and managing collections of data which include not just repositories like databases, but also simpler store types such as simple files, emails, etc. ^[1]

A database is a collection of data that is managed by a database management system (DBMS), though the term can sometime more generally refer to any collection of data that is stored and accessed electronically. A file is a series of bytes that is managed by a file system. Thus, any database or file is a series of bytes that, once stored, is called a data store.

MATLAB ^[2] and Cloud Storage systems like VMware, ^[3] Firefox OS ^[4] use datastore as a term for abstracting collections of data inside their respective applications.

Types

Data store can refer to a broad class of storage systems including:

• Paper files
• Simple files like a spreadsheet
• File systems
• Email storage systems (both server and client systems)
• Databases
  • Relational databases, based on the relational model of data
  • Object-oriented databases. They can save objects of an object-oriented design.
  • NoSQL databases
    • Key–value databases
    • Wide-column stores
    • Graph databases
• Distributed data stores
• Directory services
• VMware uses the term datastore to refer to a file that stores a virtual machine ^[5]

See also

• Data architecture
• Data flow diagram
• Database
• Distributed data store

References

1. "Glossary D: data store". Information Management. Archived from the original on 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2011-04-04. A place where data is stored; data at rest. A generic term that includes databases and flat files.
2. "Datastore - MATLAB & Simulink". in.mathworks.com. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
3. VMware (2016-01-11). "Managed Object - Datastore". VMware. VMware. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
4. "Data Store API". Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 2016-01-11. Archived 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Managed Object Description". Pubs.vmware.com. Retrieved 2019-07-02.