1. The retention of data in any form, usually for the purpose of orderly retrieval and documentation. 2. A device consisting of electronic, electrostatic, electrical, hardware or other elements into which data may be entered, and from which data may be obtained as desired.

Maintaining information for later retrieval and access by the user. Access to the stored data may be via remote or local means. This access may be by user retrieval or provided automatically by the storage system. Various media exist to store information including magnetic disk, laser optical disk, magnetic tapes, etc.