Mastering Data Warehouse Aggregates: Solutions for Star Schema Performance

4.3. Evaluating Aggregate Navigators

Most enterprises that have not implemented dimensional aggregates are already in possession of products that offer aggregate support. The capability is found in business intelligence tools, reporting tools, and RDBMS products, for example.

But the reality is that trade-offs will be required. Commercial products usually support dimensional aggregates through a feature of a larger product. As a result, the aggregate navigation capability is either tailored to the capabilities of the product, or is a specific application of a more generalized capability.

This section examines the three most common approaches to aggregate navigation. For each style, the overall approach is compared to the requirements developed in the previous section. Advantages and potential shortcomings will be identified, along with questions to ask that will bring to light any operational impacts of the solution.

By looking at aggregate navigators in this way, you should be able to evaluate specific products and understand their implications on the data warehouse architecture. Later, this chapter examines some specific technologies that are commonly used.

4.3.1. Front-End Aggregate Navigators

A decade ago, aggregate navigation features were found mostly in commercial front-end products. While there are more options today, many front-end tools still offer some form of support. Because front-end tools manage the process of submitting SQL to the database, their developers can ...