Differentiate OLAP From OLTP 1.1. in Terms of Definition

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1.

Differentiate OLAP from OLTP


1.1. In terms of definition
OLAP
 Online Analytical Processing
 Consists of type of software tools that are used for data analysis, in order to
make business decisions;
 Usually used for offline storage of data, can be accessed offline also;
 Data information is used by business data analyst, manager, executive for
analysis and reporting purposes;
 By using OLAP, you can extract database information from multiple
databases and analyze it for business decisions
 Data analysis

OLTP
 Online Transaction Processing
 A system that manages transaction-oriented application on the internet in a 3-
tier architecture;
 Manages day to day transaction of an organization;
 And is being used by end users such as DBA, DB professional;
 Used for data processing

1.2. In terms of examples of query in


OLAP
 Used in Finance department for applications such as budgeting, financial
performance analysis, activity-based costing, allocation, financial modeling,
etc.;
 In Sales Department, OLAP applications are used for sales analysis, and
forecasting
 In Marketing Department, applications are used for marketing research
analysis, sales forecasting, customer analysis, promotion analysis, and market
or customer segmentations;
 In Netflix, it is used for user's movie recommendation based on watched
history.

OLTP
 In online banking, customers used online services for checking account
balances and directing fund balances;
 For purchasing a book online, it is used for adding a book to the shopping
card;
 In Call Center, staff uses OLTP to view and update customer's details;
 To book an airline ticket and for sending a text message;
 In ATM Center, it is used for money withdrawals, transfers, deposits, and
inquiries;
 To make order entries in hotel and medical industry.
1.3. In terms of parameters
2.3.1. Motive to use
OLAP
 OLAP Systems provide consolidated view of historical data of an
enterprise for reporting, planning, and decision-making;
 Types of Queries – large and complex queries are used for making
decisions in this aggregation of tables across multiple database which
is frequently required;
 Forms of Query – transactions are not required to be recorded hence
select command is used for fetching the data for analysis purposes;
 Types of Users – are mostly knowledgeable workers, business
analysts, c-suite, and managers, for running complex queries for
running complex queries for making the analysis.

OLTP
 OLTP systems are used to manage day-to-day fundamental operations;
 Types of Queries – simple and standard queries are used, which
returns only a few records;
 Forms of Query – uses insert, delete, and update statement for the
same;
 Types of Users – mostly used by the employees on the front line that
has end users like clerks, and cashiers, DBA, in order to record and
review the transactions.

1.3.2. Normalization
OLAP
 Data is denormalized to improve query performance when aggregation
must be performed;
 Data Storage – requires significantly large space as it is used to store
huge amount of historical data;
 Back-up and Recovery – backups are rarely needed because it is built
to persist data;
 Design Part – design changes according to the reporting subjects like
sales inventory, marketing, and so on. The design here changes
according to the reporting subject only. Snowflake Model Based
Design.

OLTP
 Data is stored in third normal form (3NF), in order to facilitate simple
queries;
 Data Storage – contains data from multiple sources and requires
storage of aggregate structures and numerous indexes in order to
optimize query performance but relatively smaller space is required as
it is based on current data only;
 Back-up and Recovery – data is backed up regularly without fail
because it stores all functional data for the business only;
 Design Part – design changes as per the industrial requirements. ER
Model Based Design.

1.4. Advantages and Disadvantages


OLAP
Advantages of Using OLAP
 Creates single platform for all types of business analytical needs which
includes planning, budgeting, forecasting, and analysis;
 Major benefit of using is the consistency of info and calculations;
 OLAP Systems apply security restrictions on users and objects in order to
comply with regulations and protect sensitive data.
Disadvantages of Using OLAP
 High IT Dependency – IT Professionals are responsible for implementation
and maintenance of OLAP systems. Although business analysts of decision
makers are the intended users for OLAP, they will still have to work with the
IT professionals because the traditional OLAP tools requires a complex
modeling procedure and its users have to write a huge number of complex
codes, scripts or SQL queries;
 Slow Response – slow in reacting to the business analysis demands;
 Abstract Model – abstraction of model hinders the business personnel from
analyzing freely.

OLTP
Advantages of Using OLAP
 Used to manage day-to-day transactions of an organization;
 Queries used in this are simpler and short;
 Allows indexed access to data;
 Multiple users can use OLTP at one time;
 Frequent queries and updates;
 Faster response time compared to OLAP.
Disadvantages of Using OLAP
 Online transactions get affected, if hardware failures occur in OLTP systems;
 Multiple users to change and access the same data, so, creates unprecedented
situation;
 Costly systems designs and maintenance for making OLTP concurrency;
 In Online Banking, online transaction systems impose processing costs on the
buyers and sellers.

2. Can OLAP and OLTP be integrated in one platform? Explain further.


 Companies like snappy data is developing, in-memory hybrid transactional analytics
database;
 This brings OLTP, OLAP, and Apache Spark or Mongo dB together to ease the pain
of users;
 Hence, transactional and analytical environments becomes together;
 Integrated form minimizes the operation cost;
 Integrated platform also includes approximate query processing, which helps to
improve query performance.

3. Which is better for you, OLAP or OLTP?

OLAP is historical multi-dimensional data retrieval system that is used to retrieve the
data for analysis can be helpful for decision-making, whereas, OLTP is an online data
modification system. So, OLAP system creates a single platform for all types of business
analysis needs such as planning, budgeting, analysis, and forecasting. OLTP systems are
used for day-to-day transaction. OLAP is characterized by a large volume of data,
whereas, OLTP is characterized by the large number of short online transactions. Both
works differently based on the user's requirements.

4. Which one of them does Data Warehouse support?

We can define OLAP in data warehouse as a computing technology that allows query
data and analyze it from different perspectives. The technology is a great solution for
business analysts who need to pre-aggregate and pre-calculate data for fast analysis.
Talking about OLAP architecture in data warehouse, it is based on a multidimensional
data structure. The data has a form of OLAP cubes, which have a star or snowflake-shape
schema. In the middle of a star (or snowflake) is a table that includes data aggregations
and reconciles various dimensions. To query the data required, OLAP usually uses MDX
language. MDX queries work with OLAP members, dimensions and hierarchies.

OLAP Functions
Features of OLAP in data warehouse are the following:
 Has intuitive easy-to-use interface;
 OLAP supports complex calculations;
 Provides data view in multidimensional manner;
 Time intelligence.

Different Types of OLAP in Data Warehouse


Among OLAP variants, we can distinguish three main types and four additional. There
are following three major OLAP models in data warehouse:
1) ROLAP or Relational OLAP: the kind of system where users query data from a
relational database or from their own local tables. Thus, the number of potential
questions is not limited.
2) MOLAP or Multidimensional OLAP: this system stores the data in
multidimensional database. Provides high speed of calculations.
3) HOLAP or Hybrid OLAP: a mix of two above mentioned systems. Pre-computed
aggregates and cube structure stored in multidimensional database.
Here are four additional types of OLAP server in data warehouse:
1) WOLAP – Web OLAP
2) SOLAP – Spatial OLAP
3) Mobile OLAP
4) DOLAP – Desktop OLAP

OLAP Operations in Data Warehousing


Basic OLAP operations include:
• Drill up
• Drill down
• Slice
• Dice
• Pivot

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