DATA WAREHOUSING FUNDAMENTALS: A Comprehensive Guide for IT Professionals

6.4. DATA STORAGE SPECIFICATIONS

If your company is adopting the top-down approach of developing the data warehouse, then you have to define the storage specifications for

• The data staging area

• The overall corporate data warehouse

• Each of the dependent data marts, beginning with the first

• Any multidimensional databases for OLAP

Alternatively, if your company opts for the bottom-up approach, you need specifications for

• The data staging area

• Each of the conformed data marts, beginning with the first

• Any multidimensional databases for OLAP

Typically, the overall corporate data warehouse will be based on the relational model supported by a relational database management system (RDBMS). The data marts are usually structured on the dimensional model implemented using an RDBMS. Many vendors offer proprietary multidimensional database systems (MDDBs). Specification for your MDDB will be based on your choice of vendor. The extent and sophistication of the staging area depends on the complexity and breadth of data transformation, cleansing, and conversion. The staging area may just be a bunch of flat files or, at the other extreme, a fully developed relational database.

Whatever your choice of the database management system may be, that system will have to interact with back-end and front-end tools. The back-end tools are the products for data transformation, data cleansing, and data loading. The front-end tools relate to information delivery to the users. If you are trying to find the best ...