Understand the relationship between the Data and Information Inventory and the Data Stores Inventory - Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

Understand the relationship between the Data and Information Inventory and the Data Stores Inventory

(Chapter 34 of Data and Information Inventory and Attributes)

Executive Summary: Chapter Overview

IF4IT

The Bottom Line

This chapter explains how the Data and Information Inventory connects logical data types to the Data Stores Inventory, which identifies the physical places where instances reside. It reinforces the distinction between governed type definitions and the databases, object stores, file systems, or repositories that house their instances.

Core Concepts

Concept	Definition & Strategic Role
Logical Type	The logical type is the governed Data and Information record. It defines meaning, ownership, sensitivity, and lifecycle independent of physical storage.
Physical Data Store	A physical data store is the database, object store, file system, or repository that contains instances of a governed type. It belongs in the Data Stores Inventory, not as a substitute for the type record.
Source of Truth Store	The Source of Truth Store identifies the physical container holding the master copy of a data type. It complements the organizational Authoritative Source rather than replacing it.

Quick Q&A

Question: Why separate Data and Information types from Data Store records?

Answer: A data type can exist in many physical stores, and a store can house many data types. Separating the logical type from physical containers allows the enterprise to govern meaning, ownership, and sensitivity once while still tracking where instances actually reside.

Data Stores physically house instances of Data and Information types. The Data Stores Inventory (not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document) will govern the physical containers — databases, object stores, file systems, data warehouses, data lakes — that contain instances of the types governed by this inventory.

The connecting attributes are Housing Data Stores (which lists all Data Stores containing instances of a given type) and Source of Truth Store (which identifies the single master copy Data Store) in the Relationship Attributes category of this inventory. These two attributes are manually populated at Walk maturity and automatically derived at Run maturity when the Data Stores Inventory is published and connected.

When established, this relationship enables physical data distribution analysis: how many data stores hold copies of a given type? Is the Source of Truth Store in a jurisdiction with data residency requirements? Which data stores would require migration if a data type’s definition changes? These questions are essential for data architecture governance and cannot be answered from the logical layer alone.

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