The PowerCenter repository resides in a relational database. The repository stores information required to extract, transform, and load data. It also stores administrative information such as permissions and privileges for users and groups that have access to the repository. PowerCenter applications access the PowerCenter repository through the Repository Service.
You administer the repository through Informatica Administrator and command line programs.
You can develop global and local repositories to share metadata:
Global repository.
The global repository is the hub of the repository domain. Use the global repository to store common objects that multiple developers can use through shortcuts. These objects may include operational or application source definitions, reusable transformations, mapplets, and mappings.
Local repositories.
A local repository is any repository within the domain that is not the global repository. Use local repositories for development. From a local repository, you can create shortcuts to objects in shared folders in the global repository. These objects include source definitions, common dimensions and lookups, and enterprise standard transformations. You can also create copies of objects in non-shared folders.
You can view repository metadata in the Repository Manager. Informatica Metadata Exchange (MX) provides a set of relational views that allow easy SQL access to the PowerCenter metadata repository.