Various forms of data repositories have their pros and cons but are also used for varying purposes depending on the insight we wish to obtain.

One main form is simply a database which is used to collect data for input, storage, search, retrieval, and modification of data. There are two main types which include Relational and Non-relational databases. A relational database uses the format of rows and columns and is queried by the used of SQL. While a non-relational database is widely used for processing big data and is designed to be used with NoSQL (Not only SQL).

A data warehouse is another form of a data repository which is used to work as a central repository merging information coming from different sources.

Finally there are also Data Stores which are used for very large sets of data.