A data store is the location where data resides permanently or temporarily. It responds to requests for storing and accessing data, but cannot initiate any actions. It represents data at rest, which can be computerized components, such as files or databases, or non-computerized components, such as names and addresses in an address book for example.
Data stores are based on resources (see Resources (BPM)) with a Data Store stereotype. Flows to and from data stores must be created with the Resource Flow tool in the Data Flow Diagram toolbox.