The Technology of CRM 97
obtained, still another decision must be made. The question now becomes
which schema to use for the design of the data warehouse database. There
are two major options: (1) the classic star schema and (2) the snowflake
schema.
The Star Schema
In the star design schema, a separate table is used for each dimension and a
single large table is used for the facts. The fact table’s indexed key comprises
the keys of the different dimension tables.
With this schema, the problem of sparseness of data, or the creation of
empty rows, is avoided by not creating records where combinations are invalid.
Users are able to follow paths for detailed drill-downs and summary roll-ups.
Because the dimension tables are also relatively small, precalculated ...