What is a Data Warehouse?
A data warehouse is a relational database that is designed for query and analysis
rather than transaction processing. It usually contains historical data that is derived
from transaction data, but it can include data from other sources. It separates
analysis workload from transaction workload and enables an organization to
consolidate data from several sources.
In addition to a relational database, a data warehouse environment often consists of
an Extraction, Transportation, and Transformation (ETT) solution, an online
analytical processing (OLAP) engine, client analysis tools, and other applications
that manage the process of gathering data and delivering it to business users. See
Chapter 10, "ETT Overview", for further information regarding the ETT process.
A common way of introducing data warehousing is to refer to Inmon’s
characteristics of a data warehouse, who says that they are:
n Subject Oriented
n Integrated
n Nonvolatile
n Time Variant
A data warehouse is a relational database that is designed for query and analysis
rather than transaction processing. It usually contains historical data that is derived
from transaction data, but it can include data from other sources. It separates
analysis workload from transaction workload and enables an organization to
consolidate data from several sources.
In addition to a relational database, a data warehouse environment often consists of
an Extraction, Transportation, and Transformation (ETT) solution, an online
analytical processing (OLAP) engine, client analysis tools, and other applications
that manage the process of gathering data and delivering it to business users. See
Chapter 10, "ETT Overview", for further information regarding the ETT process.
A common way of introducing data warehousing is to refer to Inmon’s
characteristics of a data warehouse, who says that they are:
n Subject Oriented
n Integrated
n Nonvolatile
n Time Variant