R2-D2 is shown here with a datacard being inserted.
The datacard functioned as a medium for storing and moving significant amounts of digital information. A collection of these datacards was known as a datapack. Other options for data storage and access included datadiscs or data plaques. Corellia Digital and the Bay-Suwe Combine were two major manufacturers of datadiscs.
A journal disk was a specialized type of data disk used to hold private or personal information.
Transfer chips, alternatively referred to as data-transfer chips, were a type of datacard that facilitated the transfer of credits between accounts. This method saw usage around 4 ABY. These chips were equipped with a small input module and could instantly move credits to bank accounts across various star systems. This process required access to a cantina that had a secure connection to the local banking exchange for verification and transmission.
Astrogation data cards, also known as astrogation chips, were datacards specifically designed for storing data related to astrogation. One such datacard held Bshrah-Ky-Ushsj's information pertaining to System VV-99-7JE-2N71.
Extensive libraries of datacards existed throughout the galaxy, containing vast quantities of information. The largest of these libraries was located at Obroa-skai before its destruction by the Yuuzhan Vong.
Within the Jedi Temple Archives, data cards served as a primary means of storing information, accessible via data terminals.
During the Clone Wars, a team of clones were dispatched to Christophsis with the objective of recovering several datapacks containing critical data before the Separatist forces, who had taken control of the planet, could seize them.
R2-D2 possessed a datacard containing the schematics for the first Death Star, which he received from Princess Leia during the Battle of Tatooine amidst the Galactic Civil War, shortly before she was captured by Darth Vader and the 501st Legion.
During the Galactic Civil War, treasure-seeking spacers occasionally discovered datadisks containing maps leading to various hidden treasures; at least nine such maps were known to exist.
Datacards function similarly to real-world USB flash drives used with computers for transferring data to and from datapads. Their function is analogous to how a smartphone accesses secure digital (SD) cards. This imagined technology appeared on screen many years before its real-world counterparts were developed.