Final answer:
The Hive metastore is a database for storing metadata related to Hive tables and partitions. It abstracts away the complexities of data storage and retrieval in Hive and improves query performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Hive metastore is a database for storing metadata related to Hive tables and partitions. It is a crucial component of Apache Hive, a data warehouse infrastructure built on top of Hadoop.
The Hive metastore stores various pieces of information about Hive tables, such as their schema, location, and partition information. It allows Hive to abstract away the complexities of data storage and retrieval by providing a centralized metadata repository.
This metadata is then used by Hive when executing queries and managing the underlying data. By separating metadata storage from data storage, it enables Hive to perform optimizations and improve query performance.