Data pods were small pods used to store important information.
Data pods were used as backup surveillance devices by the Trade Federation, to be ejected from a vessel under attack. A C-9979 landing craft launched its data pods during a battle against Jedi Master Adi Gallia and Reti of the Lok Revenants in the Ruby Nebula. Adi and Reti were able to destroy the pods, containing their ship IDs, in addition to the lander itself.
During the Galactic Civil War, it was standard Imperial procedure to eject data pods from a ship during an emergency, as was the case when the first Death Star was destroyed. The crime lord Tyber Zann scoured the wreckage of the Death Star for these data pods shortly afterward. In them, he discovered the blueprints of the Aggressor-class Star Destroyer and information on the Eclipse.