Tim,
Don't *ever* apologize for long threads when
they are full of useful content. :)
Jared
"Tim Gorman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
05/10/2002 02:19 PM
Please respond to ORACLE-L
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
cc:
Subject: Re: data warehousing desing - to denormalize or not to
denormalize - that
The distinction between a data mart and a data warehouse is not size
("Size
doesn't matter"). It just works out that way usually...
The distinction between a DM and a DW is its function within the entire
decision-support strategy. A data warehouse is the consolidation point
for
all data from all sources. Data marts are downstream breakouts, subsets
of
that consolidated data for specific business functions, optimized for
end-user access. There a situations where a data mart can exceed the data
warehouse in size (usually due to different data retention requirements),
but a data mart is by definition focused on one specific business topic or
area whereas the contents of a data warehouse encompass the entire
enterprise, across all business areas. Usually, this means the DW is
larger
than any of the many possible DMs, but it is not a requirement that this
be
so. Another common distinction between a data mart and a data warehouse
is
political. If the accounting department ponies up money for a
decision-support strategy but the marketing department does not, then you
are unlikely to have anything that can be referred to as a data warehouse.
Hence, the popularity of data marts...
...
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