Aptitude Engineering Mathematics Discrete Mathematics Operating System DBMS Computer Networks D

Characteristics and Functions of Data warehouse

Last Updated : 03 Feb, 2023
Introduction :

A data warehouse is a centralized repository for storing and managing large

amounts of data from various sources for analysis and reporting. It is optimized
for fast querying and analysis, enabling organizations to make informed
decisions by providing a single source of truth for data. Data warehousing
typically involves transforming and integrating data from multiple sources into
a unified, organized, and consistent format.

Prerequisite – Data Warehousing Data warehouse can be controlled when the

user has a shared way of explaining the trends that are introduced as specific
subject. Below are major characteristics of data warehouse :

1. Subject-oriented – A data warehouse is always a subject oriented as it

delivers information about a theme instead of organization’s current
operations. It can be achieved on specific theme. That means the data
warehousing process is proposed to handle with a specific theme which is
more defined. These themes can be sales, distributions, marketing etc.
A data warehouse never put emphasis only current operations. Instead, it
focuses on demonstrating and analysis of data to make various decision. It
 also delivers an easy and precise demonstration around particular theme by
eliminating data which is not required to make the decisions.
2. Integrated – It is somewhere same as subject orientation which is made in a
reliable format. Integration means founding a shared entity to scale the all
similar data from the different databases. The data also required to be
resided into various data warehouse in shared and generally granted
manner.
A data warehouse is built by integrating data from various sources of data
such that a mainframe and a relational database. In addition, it must have
reliable naming conventions, format and codes. Integration of data
warehouse benefits in effective analysis of data. Reliability in naming
conventions, column scaling, encoding structure etc. should be confirmed.
Integration of data warehouse handles various subject related warehouse.
3. Time-Variant – In this data is maintained via different intervals of time such
as weekly, monthly, or annually etc. It founds various time limit which are
structured between the large datasets and are held in online transaction
process (OLTP). The time limits for data warehouse is wide-ranged than that
of operational systems. The data resided in data warehouse is predictable
with a specific interval of time and delivers information from the historical
perspective. It comprises elements of time explicitly or implicitly. Another
feature of time-variance is that once data is stored in the data warehouse
then it cannot be modified, alter, or updated. Data is stored with a time
dimension, allowing for analysis of data over time.
4. Non-Volatile – As the name defines the data resided in data warehouse is
permanent. It also means that data is not erased or deleted when new data
is inserted. It includes the mammoth quantity of data that is inserted into
modification between the selected quantity on logical business. It evaluates
the analysis within the technologies of warehouse. Data is not updated,
once it is stored in the data warehouse, to maintain the historical data.
In this, data is read-only and refreshed at particular intervals. This is
beneficial in analysing historical data and in comprehension the
functionality. It does not need transaction process, recapture and
concurrency control mechanism. Functionalities such as delete, update, and
insert that are done in an operational application are lost in data warehouse
environment. Two types of data operations done in the data warehouse are:
 Data Loading
Data Access

1. Subject Oriented: Focuses on a specific area or subject such as sales,

customers, or inventory.
2. Integrated: Integrates data from multiple sources into a single, consistent
format.
3. Read-Optimized: Designed for fast querying and analysis, with indexing
and aggregations to support reporting.
4. Summary Data: Data is summarized and aggregated for faster querying and
analysis.
5. Historical Data: Stores large amounts of historical data, making it possible
to analyze trends and patterns over time.
6. Schema-on-Write: Data is transformed and structured according to a
predefined schema before it is loaded into the data warehouse.
7. Query-Driven: Supports ad-hoc querying and reporting by business users,
without the need for technical support.

Functions of Data warehouse: It works as a collection of data and here is

organized by various communities that endures the features to recover the data
functions. It has stocked facts about the tables which have high transaction
levels which are observed so as to define the data warehousing techniques and
major functions which are involved in this are mentioned below:

1. Data Consolidation: The process of combining multiple data sources into a

single data repository in a data warehouse. This ensures a consistent and
accurate view of the data.
2. Data Cleaning: The process of identifying and removing errors,
inconsistencies, and irrelevant data from the data sources before they are
integrated into the data warehouse. This helps ensure the data is accurate
and trustworthy.
3. Data Integration: The process of combining data from multiple sources into a
single, unified data repository in a data warehouse. This involves
transforming the data into a consistent format and resolving any conflicts or
discrepancies between the data sources. Data integration is an essential
step in the data warehousing process to ensure that the data is accurate and
 usable for analysis. Data from multiple sources can be integrated into a
single data repository for analysis.
4. Data Storage: A data warehouse can store large amounts of historical data
and make it easily accessible for analysis.
5. Data Transformation: Data can be transformed and cleaned to remove
inconsistencies, duplicate data, or irrelevant information.
6. Data Analysis: Data can be analyzed and visualized in various ways to gain
insights and make informed decisions.
7. Data Reporting: A data warehouse can provide various reports and
dashboards for different departments and stakeholders.
8. Data Mining: Data can be mined for patterns and trends to support decision-
making and strategic planning.
9. Performance Optimization: Data warehouse systems are optimized for fast
querying and analysis, providing quick access to data.

"GeeksforGeeks helped me ace the GATE exam! Whenever I had any doubt
regarding any topic, GFG always helped me and made my concepts quiet
clear." - Anshika Modi | AIR 21

Choose GeeksforGeeks as your perfect GATE 2025 Preparation partner with

these newly launched programs
GATE CS & IT- Online
GATE DS & AI- Online

Over 150,000+ students already trust us to be their GATE Exam guide. Join
them & let us help you in opening the GATE to top-tech IITs & NITs!

M Madh… Follow 19

Next Article
Characteristics of the Database Approach

Similar Reads