What is DataWarehousing?

Question

As known, Database Design & Implementation is a skill rather than a tool; It is a transferable skill that be applied in any DBMS. Many online tutorials out there tend to jump to the tool right away without touching the necessary aspects of databases

1. Are Data warehousing and Business Intelligence tools or transferable skills?

2. What is the best DW/BI tool for beginners?

Answer 1

Data warehousing is combining data from multiple and usually varied sources into one comprehensive and easily manipulated database. Common accessing systems of data warehousing include queries, analysis and reporting. Because data warehousing creates one database in the end, the number of sources can be anything you want it to be, provided that the system can handle the volume, of course. The final result, however, is homogeneous data, which can be more easily manipulated. Data warehousing is commonly used by companies to analyze trends over time. In other words, companies may very well use data warehousing to view day-to-day operations, but its primary function is facilitating strategic planning resulting from long-term data overviews. Data Warehouse is a repository of integrated information available for queries and analysis. Data and information are extracted from heterogeneous sources as they are generated. This makes it much easier and more efficient to run queries over data that originally came from different sources. Typical relational databases are designed for on-line transactional processing (OLTP) and do not meet the requirements for effective on-line analytical processing (OLAP). As a result, data warehouses are designed differently than traditional relational databases.

Read more at: http://tech.queryhome.com/4831/what-is-data-warehousing

Answer 2

• Subject-oriented, meaning that the data in the database is organized so that all the data elements relating to the same real-world event or object are linked together;
• Time-variant, meaning that the changes to the data in the database are tracked and recorded so that reports can be produced showing changes over time;
• Non-volatile, meaning that data in the database is never over-written or deleted, once committed, the data is static, read-only, but retained for future reporting.
• Integrated, meaning that the database contains data from most or all of an organization’s operational applications, and that this data is made consistent.