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Module 3_Data Warehousing

The document discusses key concepts of data warehousing, including the definition of data warehouses and data marts, their structures, and their roles in decision support. It outlines various data warehousing architectures such as independent data marts and centralized data warehouses. Additionally, it provides references for further reading on the topic.

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Dom Balseen
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2 views

Module 3_Data Warehousing

The document discusses key concepts of data warehousing, including the definition of data warehouses and data marts, their structures, and their roles in decision support. It outlines various data warehousing architectures such as independent data marts and centralized data warehouses. Additionally, it provides references for further reading on the topic.

Uploaded by

Dom Balseen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Professorial Lecturer: Module 2_ Database Warehousing

Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

Data Warehousing
1. Learning outcomes
• Discuss the key concepts of data warehousing
• Identify resources needed for data warehousing

2. Introduction
Imagine a large organization having different departments, each with their own database
systems. A business analyst would like to generate reports for decision support. She
approaches each department but has problems with some of them whose main roles are just to
handle data transactions – not reports. Those that do give her information give data in a number
of different formats. Customer names are saved differently, birthdates are in mm/dd/yy and
dd/mm/yy and so on. Wouldn’t it save the business analyst so much time and effort if there was
a central repository containing information needed for her to generate the reports that she needs
with the data in a standardized format, too?
3. Data Warehouses and Data Marts
A data warehouse is a physical repository where relational data are specially organized to
provide enterprise-wide, cleansed data in a standardized format. In our previous module, we
have learned what database systems are. In turn, a data warehouse is a collection of integrated,
subject-oriented databases. Each unit of data is non-volatile and relevant to some moment in
time.
Data in data warehouses are NOT in 3NF. That being so, they are referred to as BIG DATA.
Since they are not normalized, some data may be redundant. The redundancies will result in,
well, BIG data. However, BIG DATA is more useful for DECISION SUPPORT.
This is good since the purpose of a data warehouse is provide aggregate data for decision
making. You are not that interested in what the data for each table are, you are more interested
in how the company will move forward given that data.
There may be questions or decisions which are specialized for specific people. Thus,
separate entities called DATA MARTS are used to provide specialized and strategic answers for
specific people. This keeps it simple for the users. Small problems are easier to solve.
Data marts, therefore, are a subset of the data warehouse that support the requirements of
a particular department or business function.
A data mart is a departmental data warehouse that stores only relevant data. Data marts
can be dependent or independent. A dependent data mart is a subset that is created directly
from a data warehouse. An independent data mart, on the other hand, is a small data warehouse
designed for a strategic business unit or a department.

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Professorial Lecturer: Module 2_ Database Warehousing
Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

4. Alternate Data Warehousing Architecture


Alternative data warehousing architectures include:
a. Independent Data Marts - can be created without using the central data warehouse.
b. Data Mart Bus Architecture - composed of a set of tightly integrated data marts that get
their power from conformed dimensions and fact tables. Fact tables that should be
conformed include those that derive revenue, profit, standard prices, and standard costs.
c. Hub-and-Spoke Architecture - is a networking model where a central "hub" serves as
the main point of communication for multiple "spokes".
d. Centralized Data Warehouse - is a data warehousing implementation wherein a single
data warehouse serves the needs of several separate business unites simultaneously using
a single data model that spans the needs of multiple business divisions.
e. Federated Data Warehouse - is the process of querying data from different sources into
a single virtual format.

5. Quiz / Activity
References

Book References:
Corr, Lawrence & Jim Stagnitto (2011). Agile Data Warehouse Design: Collaborative Dimensional
Modeling, from Whiteboard to Star Schema
Jarke , Matthias, Maurizio Lenzerini , Yannis Vassiliou & Panos Vassiliadis (2003). Fundamentals
of Data Warehouses. Springer Berlin Heidelberg Publishing. ISBNs 978-3-54-042089-7,
978-3-64-207564-3, 978-3-66-205153-5. DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-05153-5
Jukic,Nenad, Susan Vrbsky & Svetlozar Nestorov (2016). Database Systems: Introduction to
Databases and Data Warehouses.
Kimball, Ralp (2013). The Data Warehouse Toolkit: The Definitive Guide to Dimensional
Modeling, 3rd Edition
Linstedt, Daniel & Michael Olschimke (2015). Building a Scalable Data Warehouse with Data
Vault 2.0
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Professorial Lecturer: Module 2_ Database Warehousing
Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

Ponniah, Paulraj (2001). Data Warehousing Fundamentals: A Comprehensive Guide for IT


Professionals, 1st Edition. Wiley-Interscience Publishing

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