A tablespace is a logical storage unit within an Oracle database. It is logical because a tablespace is not visible in the file system of the machine on which the database resides. A tablespace, in turn, consists of at least one datafile which, in turn, are physically located in the file system of the server. Btw, a datafile belongs to exactly one tablespace.
Each table, index and so on that is stored in an Oracle database belongs to a tablespace. The tablespace builds the bridge between the Oracle database and the filesystem in which the table's or index' data is stored.
There are three types of tablespaces in Oracle:
Permanent tablespaces
Undo tablespaces
temporary tablespaces
