Data Warehouse

OVERVIEW

Chapter-1
Out-Line
 Data Warehouse OVERVIEW
 Understanding a Data Warehouse
 Data Warehouse Features
 Online Transaction Processing(OLTP) vs Online analytical
processing(OlAP)
 Why a Data Warehouse is Separated from Operational
Databases
 Data Warehouse Applications
 Types of Data Warehouse
 Data warehouse ─ Concepts
 Data Warehouse
OVERVIEW

The term "Data Warehouse" was first coined

by Bill Inmon in 1990. According to Inmon, a
data warehouse is a subject-oriented,
integrated, time-variant, and non-volatile
collection of data. This data helps analysts to
take informed decisions in an organization.
 Data Warehouse
OVERVIEW (cont..)

An operational database undergoes frequent

changes on a daily basis on account of the
transactions that take place. Suppose a
business executive wants to analyze previous
feedback on any data such as a product, a
supplier, or any consumer data, then the
executive will have no data available to
analyze because the previous data has been
updated due to transactions.
 Data Warehouse
OVERVIEW (cont..)

A data warehouses provides us generalized and

consolidated data in multidimensional view.
Along with generalized and consolidated view
of data, a data warehouses also provides us
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools.
These tools help us in interactive and effective
analysis of data in a multidimensional space.
This analysis results in data generalization and
data mining.
 Data Warehouse
OVERVIEW (cont..)

Data mining functions such as association,

clustering, classification, prediction can be
integrated with OLAP operations to enhance
the interactive mining of knowledge at
multiple level of abstraction. That's why data
warehouse has now become an important
platform for data analysis and online analytical
processing.
Understanding a Data Warehouse

-Data warehouse is a database, which is kept separate from the

organization's operational database.
- There is no frequent updating done in a data warehouse.
- It possesses consolidated historical data, which helps the
organization to analyze its business.
- A data warehouse helps executives to organize, understand, and
use their data to take strategic decisions.
- Data warehouse systems help in the integration of diversity of
application systems.
- A data warehouse system helps in consolidated historical data
analysis.
 Why a Data Warehouse is Separated from
Operational Databases
A data warehouses is kept separate from operational
databases due to the following reasons:
 An operational database is constructed for well-known
tasks and workloads such as searching particular records,
indexing, etc. In contrast, data warehouse queries are
often complex and they present a general form of data.

 Operational databases support concurrent processing of

multiple transactions. Concurrency control and recovery
mechanisms are required for operational databases to
ensure strength and consistency of the database.
 Why a Data Warehouse is Separated from
Operational Databases (cont..)
A data warehouses is kept separate from
operational databases due to the following
reasons:
An operational database query allows to read
and modify operations, while an OLAP query
needs only read only access of stored data.
An operational database maintains current
data. On the other hand, a data warehouse
maintains historical data.
 Data Warehouse Features
The key features of a data warehouse are discussed below:
 Subject Oriented - A data warehouse is subject oriented
because it provides information around a subject rather than
the organization's ongoing operations. These subjects can be
product, customers, suppliers, sales, revenue, etc. A data
warehouse does not focus on the ongoing operations, rather
it focuses on modeling and analysis of data for decision
making.
 Integrated – A data warehouse is constructed by integrating
data from heterogeneous sources such as relational
databases, flat files, etc. This integration enhances the
effective analysis of data.
 Data Warehouse Features (cont..)
The key features of a data warehouse are discussed below:
Time Variant - The data collected in a data warehouse is identified with
a particular time period. The data in a data warehouse provides
information from the historical point of view.

Non-volatile - Non-volatile means the previous data is not erased when

new data is added to it. A data warehouse is kept separate from the
operational database and therefore frequent changes in operational
database is not reflected in the data warehouse.

Note: A data warehouse does not require transaction processing,

recovery, and concurrency controls, because it is physically stored and
separate from the operational database.
 Data Warehouse Applications
As discussed before, a data warehouse helps business executives
to organize, analyze, and use their data for decision making. A
data warehouse serves as a sole part of a plan-execute-assess
"closed-loop" feedback system for the enterprise management.
Data warehouses are widely used in the following fields:

 Financial services
 Banking services
 Consumer goods
 Retail sectors
 Controlled manufacturing
 Types of Data Warehouse

Information processing, analytical processing, and data mining are the three
types of data warehouse applications that are discussed below:
Information Processing – A data warehouse allows to process the data
stored in it. The data can be processed by means of querying, basic
statistical analysis, reporting using crosstabs, tables, charts, or graphs.
Analytical Processing – A data warehouse supports analytical processing of
the information stored in it. The data can be analyzed by means of basic
OLAP operations, including slice-and-dice, drill down, drill up, and
pivoting.
Data Mining - Data mining supports knowledge discovery by finding
hidden patterns and associations, constructing analytical models,
performing classification and prediction. These mining results can be
presented using visualization tools.
 Data Warehouse (OLAP) VS Operational
Database(OLTP)
Data Warehouse (OLAP):
 It involves historical processing of information.
 OLAP systems are used by knowledge workers such as executives,
managers, and analysts.
 It is used to analyze the business.
 It focuses on Information out.
Operational Database(OLTP):
 It involves day-to-day processing.
 OLTP systems are used by clerks, DBAs, or database professionals.
 It is used to run the business.
 It focuses on Data in.
 Data Warehouse (OLAP) VS Operational Database(OLTP)(cont..)

Data Warehouse (OLAP):

 It is based on Star Schema, Snowflake Schema, and Fact Constellation Schema.
 It focuses on Information out.
 It contains historical data.
 It provides summarized and consolidated data.
 It provides summarized and multidimensional view of data.
Operational Database(OLTP):
 It is based on Entity Relationship Model.
 It is application oriented.
 It contains current data.
 It provides primitive and highly detailed data.
 It provides detailed and flat relational view of data.
 Data Warehouse (OLAP) VS Operational Database(OLTP)(cont..)

Data Warehouse (OLAP):

 The number of users is in hundreds.
 The number of records accessed is in millions.
 The database size is from 100GB to 100 TB.
 These are highly flexible.
Operational Database(OLTP):
 The number of users is in thousands.
 The number of records accessed is in tens.
 The database size is from 100 MB to 100 GB.
 It provides high performance.
 Data warehouse ─ Concepts

What is Data Warehousing?

Data warehousing is the process of
constructing and using a data warehouse. A
data warehouse is constructed by integrating
data from multiple heterogeneous sources
that support analytical reporting, structured
and/or ad hoc queries, and decision making.
Data warehousing involves data cleaning, data
integration, and data consolidations.
Using Data Warehouse Information

There are decision support technologies that

help utilize the data available in a data
warehouse. These technologies help
executives to use the warehouse quickly and
effectively. They can gather data, analyze it,
and take decisions based on the information
present in the warehouse. The information
gathered in a warehouse can be used in any of
the following domains:
Using Data Warehouse Information (cont..)

Tuning Production Strategies - The product strategies can be

well tuned by repositioning the products and managing the
product portfolios by comparing the sales quarterly or yearly.
Customer Analysis - Customer analysis is done by analyzing the
customer's buying preferences, buying time, budget cycles,
etc.
Operations Analysis - Data warehousing also helps in
customer relationship management, and making
environmental corrections. The information also allows us to
analyze business operations.
 Functions of Data Warehouse Tools and
Utilities
The following are the functions of data
warehouse tools and utilities:
Data Extraction - Involves gathering data from
multiple heterogeneous sources.
 Data Cleaning - Involves finding and
correcting the errors in data.
Data Transformation - Involves converting the
data from legacy format to warehouse format
 Functions of Data Warehouse Tools and
Utilities
The following are the functions of data warehouse
tools and utilities:
Data Loading - Involves sorting, summarizing,
consolidating, checking integrity, and building
indices and partitions.
Refreshing - Involves updating from data sources to
warehouse.
Note − Data cleaning and data transformation are
important steps in improving the quality of data
and data mining results.
END