SharePoint databases

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc678868(d=printer).aspx

 

Configuration :
The configuration database contains data about SharePoint 

• databases,
• Internet Information Services (IIS) Web sites,
• Web applications,
• trusted solutions,
• Web Part packages,
• site templates, and
• Web application and farm settings

specific to SharePoint 2010 Products, such as default quota settings and blocked file types.

Central Administration content :

The Central Administration content database is considered to be a configuration database. It stores all   site content, including

• site documents or
• files in document libraries,
• list data, and
• Web Part properties, in addition to
• user names and rights for the Central Administration site collection.

If Microsoft SQL Server PowerPivot for Microsoft SharePoint is installed, the Central Administration content database also stores the Excel worksheets and PowerPivot data files used in the PowerPivot Management Dashboard.

Content databases

Content databases store all content for a site collection, including 

• site documents or
• files in document libraries,
• list data,
• Web Part properties,
• audit logs, and
• sandboxed solutions, in addition to
• user names and rights.

All the data for a specific site collection resides in one content database on only one server. A content database can be associated with more than one site collection.

Business Data Connectivity database

The Business Data Connectivity service application database stores external content types and related objects.

Application Registry database

The Application Registry service application database stores backward-compatible information that is used to connect to information that is used by the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Business Data Catalog API.When you have finished migrating an application from the Office SharePoint Server 2007 Business Data Catalog, the Application Registry service application can be disabled and the database can be deleted.  

Note:
When you have finished migrating an application from the Office SharePoint Server 2007 Business Data Catalog, the Application Registry service application can be disabled and the database can be deleted.

State database

The State service application database stores temporary state information for InfoPath Forms Services, the chart Web Part, and Visio Services.

Search service application Administration database

The Administration database hosts the Search service application configuration and access control list (ACL), and best bets for the crawl component. This database is accessed for every user and administrative action. 

Web Analytics Reporting database

The Reporting database stores aggregated standard report tables, fact data aggregated by groups of sites, date and asset metadata, and diagnostics information for the Web Analytics service application.

Search service application Property database

The Property database stores information that is associated with the crawled data, including properties, history, and crawl queues.

User Profile service application Profile database

The Profile database stores and manages users and associated information. It also stores information about a user's social network in addition to memberships in distribution lists and sites. 

User Profile service application Synchronization database

The Synchronization database stores configuration and staging data for use when profile data is being synchronized with directory services such as Active Directory.

User Profile service application Social Tagging database

The Social Tagging database stores social tags and notes created by users, along with their respective URLs.

Managed Metadata database

The Managed Metadata service application database stores managed metadata and syndicated content types.