{{Short description|Repository for data collection storage and management}} 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.<ref>{{cite web | access-date = 2011-04-04 | publisher = Information Management | title = Glossary D: data store | quote = A place where data is stored; data at rest. A generic term that includes databases and flat files. | url = http://www.information-management.com/glossary/d.html | archive-date = 2013-01-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130114213951/http://www.information-management.com/glossary/d.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
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<ref>{{cite web|title = Datastore - MATLAB & Simulink|url = http://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/datastore.html|website = in.mathworks.com|access-date = 2016-01-11}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Cloud Storage systems like VMware,<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk41pubs/ApiReference/vim.Datastore.html|title = Managed Object - Datastore|date = 2016-01-11|access-date = 2016-01-11|website = VMware|last = VMware|archive-date = 2016-03-04|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111304/https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk41pubs/ApiReference/vim.Datastore.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> Firefox OS<ref>{{cite web|title = Data Store API|url = https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Data_Store_API|website = Mozilla Developer Network|access-date = 2016-01-11|archive-date = 2014-12-23|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141223222343/https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Data_Store_API|url-status = dead}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pubs.vmware.com/vi3/sdk/ReferenceGuide/vim.Datastore.html |title=Managed Object Description |publisher=Pubs.vmware.com |access-date=2019-07-02 |archive-date=2019-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708015233/https://pubs.vmware.com/vi3/sdk/ReferenceGuide/vim.Datastore.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== See also == * Data architecture * Data flow diagram * Database * Distributed data store
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Databases Category:Database management systems
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