| Structured Data | Unstructured data | |
| Characteristics | Pre-defined data models | No Pre-defined-data model |
| Usually text only | Maybe text, image, sound, video or Other formats | |
| Easy to search | Difficult to search | |
| Resides in | Relational databases | Applications |
| Data warehouses | NoSQL databases | |
| Data lakes | ||
| Data warehouses | ||
| Generatedby | Humans or machines | Humans or machines |
| Typical applications | Airline reservation systems | Word processing |
| Inventory control | Presentation software | |
| ERP systems | Email clients | |
| CRM systems | Tools for viewing or editing media | |
| Examples | Dates | Text files |
| Phone numbers | Reports | |
| Social security numbers | Email messages | |
| Credit card numbers | Audio files | |
| Customer names | Video files | |
| Addresses | Images | |
| Product names and numbers | Surveillance imagery | |
| Transaction Information |