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A datacard being inserted into R2-D2
The datacard was used to transfer and store large amounts of information. A group of datacards was called a datapack. Alternative data storage and retrieval devices were datadiscs or data plaques. Two large datadisc manufacturers were Corellia Digital and the Bay-Suwe Combine.
History[]
A datadisc, an alternative data storage device
Large libraries of datacards existed around the galaxy, holding enormous quantities of data. The largest was at Obroa-skai, before the Yuuzhan Vong destroyed the library.
Data cards were one of the primary methods of information storage in the Jedi Temple Archives, and could be accessed with data terminals.
During the Clone Wars, a group of clones were sent to Christophsis to retrieve a number of datapacks, containing vital information, before the Separatist forces, which had overrun the planet, could get their hands on them.
R2-D2 carried a datacard containing the plans to the first Death Star that was given to him by Princess Leia during the Battle of Tatooine during the Galactic Civil War, shortly before her capture by Darth Vader and the 501st Legion.
During the Galactic Civil War, various spacers who sought treasure also found some datadisks that contained maps to various treasures, of which at least nine existed.
Behind the scenes[]
Datacards store and transfer data to and from datapads in the same way real-world USB flash drives are used with computers. They can be used in the way a smartphone reads secure digital (SD) cards. This fictional technology was shown on-screen decades before the real-world devices existed.
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