The concept of a staging table is not specific to Informatica, but is a common term used in datawarehousing and ETL.
It is a database table used to store data prior to loading it into the main data warehouse tables. The name reflects that it a stage on the data's journey from source to target (rather like a staging post for a stagecoach).
Typically this data would have been extracted from a source system database, and the staging table would have a structure similar to the source table. The database schema used to hold these staging tables is referred to as the staging area or the relational staging area.
Data might also be stored in files prior loading in the warehouse - such files are called stage files and the directories in whch they are kept are known as the file staging area.
It is a database table used to store data prior to loading it into the main data warehouse tables. The name reflects that it a stage on the data's journey from source to target (rather like a staging post for a stagecoach).
Typically this data would have been extracted from a source system database, and the staging table would have a structure similar to the source table. The database schema used to hold these staging tables is referred to as the staging area or the relational staging area.
Data might also be stored in files prior loading in the warehouse - such files are called stage files and the directories in whch they are kept are known as the file staging area.