In this chapter, you will get introduced to the basic concepts of data representation and how data can be organized in various formats. You will discover types of data, for example, structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data, with examples and use cases. The chapter also walks through the options available for data storage, explaining the details of various data formats, such as JSON and CSV, as well as optimized file formats such as Avro, ORC, and Parquet and other storage services provided by Azure.