1) Explain about the data warehouse life cycle?
Data warehouse:
A Data Warehouse is a central storage system that collects data from different
sources, organizes it, and stores it for analysis and reporting.
Data Warehouse Lifecycle
The Data Warehouse Lifecycle is the step-by-step process used to plan,
design, develop, test, and maintain a data warehouse system.
Phases of Data Warehouse Lifecycle:
1) Requirement Specification
2) Data Modelling
3) ELT Design and Development
4) OLAP Cubes
5) UI Development
6) Maintenance
7) Test and Deployment
Requirement Specification:- (Planning Phase)
Requirement Specification is the first phase of the Data Warehouse
Lifecycle.
It involves gathering and documenting the business needs, data
requirements, and reporting goals from stakeholders.
Data Modelling (Design Phase)
This is the second step in building a Data Warehouse.
It is used to design the structure of how data will be stored, organized,
and used.
It helps make data easy to understand and analyze.
Three Types of Data Models
Star Schema
Snowflake Schema
Galaxy Schema.
ETL Design & Development (ETL Phase)
E = Extract, T = Transform, L = Load.
ETL tools are used to:
o Extract data
o Transform (clean and convert) data
o Load it into the data warehouse
OLAP Cube Design:
OLAP = Online Analytical Processing
OLAP cubes are special data structures used to store data in multiple
dimensions (like time, product, region)
Functions Supported:
✔️ Drill-down
✔️ Roll-up
✔️ Slice and Dice
✔️ Pivoting
Types of OLAP:
MOLAP
ROLAP
HOLAP
UI Development (Reporting Phase)
This is the fifth step in the development of the Data Warehouse.
In this phase, user interfaces like dashboards and reports are designed using
visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) to display the data clearly.
Testing and Deployment
Testing is the process of checking the accuracy, consistency, and performance
of the data warehouse system before deployment.
Types of Testing:
Unit Testing
Integration Testing
User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Maintenance
Maintenance is the process of regularly monitoring, updating, and improving
the data warehouse to ensure it works properly after deployment.
2) Explain OLAP and Multidimensional Data Analysis. Describe its operations,
types, advantages
OLAP:
o OLAP stands for Online Analytical Processing.
o It is a technology used for fast analysis of large amounts of data in a
Data Warehouse.
Key Features of OLAP
1. Multidimensional data viewing
2. Fast query processing
3. Allows detailed and summarized data
Multidimensional Data Analysis
Multidimensional Data Analysis is a method of analyzing data using
multiple dimensions.
A dimension is a category like Time, Location, Product, or Customer.
Key Concepts:
Dimensions:
Measure
Fact Table
OLAP Cube
Dimensions:
A dimension is a category used to organize data.
Examples: Time, Product, Location, Customer.
Measure:
o A measure is a numerical value that can be calculated.
o Examples: Sales, Quantity
Fact Table
o A fact table contains the measurable, quantitative data.
o Connected to dimension tables.
o Example: Sales Amount, Profit
OLAP Cube:
An OLAP Cube is a multidimensional data structure.
It allows quick and flexible analysis across multiple dimensions.
OLAP Operations:
Roll-Up
Drill-Down
Slice
Dice
Pivot
Roll-Up:
It is an OLAP operation used to aggregate data.
Moves from lower level to higher level in a hierarchy.
Helps in summarizing data.
Drill-Down:
It is the opposite of Roll-Up.
Moves from higher level to lower level in a hierarchy.
Provides more detailed information.
Slice
It selects data based on a single dimension value
Example: Selecting data where Year = 2024.
Useful for focusing on one particular value.
Dice
It selects data based on multiple dimensions.
Creates a sub-cube with specific range of values.
More flexible than slicing.
Types of OLAP Systems:
ROLAP (Relational OLAP)
ROLAP stands for Relational Online Analytical Processing.
Stores data in relational databases (tables).
Uses SQL queries to analyze data.
MOLAP (Multidimensional OLAP)
MOLAP stands for Multidimensional Online Analytical Processing.
Best for complex calculations and frequent queries.
HOLAP (Hybrid OLAP)
HOLAP stands for Hybrid Online Analytical Processing.
Suitable for real-time data + quick summary analysis.
Advantages of OLAP
o Fast Query Performance
o Interactive Reporting
o Multidimensional Analysis
Disadvantages of OLAP
o High Storage Cost
o Complex Design
o Scalability Issues
