What type of data repository is used to isolate a subset of data for a particular business function, purpose, or community of users?

The correct answer is the data mart. A data mart is a specialized type of data repository specifically designed to cater to the needs of a particular business function, purpose, or a unique community of users. It serves as a smaller, more focused version of a data warehouse, housing a subset of an organization’s data. This allows users to access relevant information efficiently without wading through larger volumes of data stored in a broader data warehouse.

Data marts enable faster query performance and are ideal for specific analytical needs because they are streamlined with only the data necessary for the targeted users or functions. For example, a sales data mart may contain sales figures, customer information, and product data specifically for the sales department, whereas a marketing data mart might include campaign data and customer demographics tailored for marketing analysis.

In contrast, a data lake serves a broader purpose by storing a vast amount of raw data in its native format and is not specifically tailored for individual user groups or functions. A data pipeline refers to the processes and tools used for data ingestion, processing, and transferring data from one system to another, while a data warehouse is a centralized repository that stores structured data from multiple sources intended for analytics and reporting on a larger scale.