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.
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 and Cloud Storage systems like VMware, Firefox OS 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
- Distributed data stores
- Directory services
- VMware uses the term datastore to refer to a file that stores a virtual machine5
See also
References
"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. https://web.archive.org/web/20130114213951/http://www.information-management.com/glossary/d.html ↩
"Datastore - MATLAB & Simulink". in.mathworks.com. Retrieved 2016-01-11. http://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/datastore.html ↩
VMware (2016-01-11). "Managed Object - Datastore". VMware. Retrieved 2016-01-11. https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/visdk41pubs/ApiReference/vim.Datastore.html ↩
"Data Store API". Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 2016-01-11.Archived 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Data_Store_API ↩
"Managed Object Description". Pubs.vmware.com. Retrieved 2019-07-02. http://pubs.vmware.com/vi3/sdk/ReferenceGuide/vim.Datastore.html ↩