Corporate Information Factory

CHAPTER 10

The Alternative Storage Component

We have now talked about the components of the Corporate Information Factory (CIF) that help us analyze data contained in the data warehouse: data marts, operational data store, and exploration/data mining warehouse. These components also enable the warehouse to scale and extend its reach across the corporation. Now let’s take a look at a component of the CIF that enables vast amounts of detail and history to be maintained in the warehouse efficiently and cost effectively—alternative storage.

Before we talk about alternative storage, we must first understand what is driving the need. As time passes, two realities strike corporations. The first reality is that the data volumes that collect in the data warehouse are overwhelming. The second reality is that as the volume of data grows, so does the cost of the infrastructure.

There are some powerful reasons why data in the warehouse grows at a rate never before witnessed by most corporations:

   Detailed data takes up more space than summarized or aggregated data.

   Deep history found in the data warehouses multiplies the size of the warehouse.

   Data warehouses are built with unknown requirements. ...