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.

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
 * Key-value databases
 * Wide Column Store
 * Graph databases
 * Distributed data stores
 * Directory services
 * VMware uses the term datastore to refer to a file that stores a virtual machine