GLOSSARY

The words behind unstructured data, clearly defined.

Eight topic areas, from metadata and cataloging to storage costs and AI readiness. Written for people who have to make a decision, not pass a quiz.

This data management glossary defines the vocabulary used to describe, store, move, and retire the files in a data estate. Unstructured data has its own terms, separate from database language: file metadata rather than schemas, tiers rather than tables, last access date rather than query frequency. This glossary groups terms by the decision they support rather than by first letter, so related words sit together.

Unstructured data basics

What counts as unstructured data, and what dark, cold, and ROT mean.

Metadata and cataloging

How files get described: catalogs, enrichment, indexing, and tagging.

Data discovery and file analytics

Finding what you hold and measuring it, without opening a single file.

Storage costs and capacity

Where the storage money goes, and how to get some of it back.

Data lifecycle, tiering, and mobility

The stages between creation and retirement, and what decides each move.

AI and data readiness

What has to be true about your files before a model can use them.

Data governance, retention, and risk

Keeping, proving, and retiring data, and the evidence each one needs.

Storage systems, protocols, and scale

NAS, object storage, NFS, and SMB, and what changes at a billion files.

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