A data island is a
data store
In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...
, such as on a
PDA
PDA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books
*Personal digital assistant, a mobile device
* Photodiode array, a type of detector
* Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...
or other
computing device
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These program ...
, that has non-existent or limited external connectivity. This limits the ability of the user to
synchronize with or copy the data to other devices. Though new data can be added to the system, the ability to move that data elsewhere is impractical or impossible. Data islands, in general, contain a very huge set of data relative to its small physical space that it occupies.
The connectivity here does not necessarily imply a hardware interface. For example, it may be a result of poorly written system interface software.
A data island is a subset of entities that are connected to each other via relationships, but that are independent of other entities within the same data store.
Data synchronization
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