Understanding the vSphere Client Data Service

The default Data Service provides a stateless, query-based interface to retrieve information about vSphere objects, as defined by the
vSphere Web Client
API.
The default Data Service interface can access data from
vCenter Server
. The Data Service accesses various services on
vCenter Server
, including the Inventory and Property Collector services.
User interface components, such as Flex data views, act as Data Service clients. These clients retrieve information by creating Data Service queries. The Data Service processes each query and returns a set of result objects.
If your
vSphere Web Client
or
vSphere Client
extensions require data from a different source, either within
vCenter Server
or outside
vCenter Server
, you can extend the Data Service by creating a Data Service Adapter. A Data Service Adapter provides a way for you to use Data Service queries to retrieve a data from custom objects or to extend VMware managed objects.