Mastering Data Warehouse Aggregates: Solutions for Star Schema Performance

Introduction

In the battle to improve data warehouse performance, no weapon is more powerful and efficient than the aggregate table. A well-planned set of aggregates can have an extraordinary impact on the overall throughput of the data warehouse. After you ensure that the database is properly designed, configured, and tuned, any measures taken to address data warehouse performance should begin with aggregates.

Yet many businesses continue to ignore aggregates, turning instead to proprietary hardware products, converting to specialized databases, or implementing complex caching architectures. These solutions carry high price tags for acquisition and implementation and often require specialized skills to maintain. This book aims to fill the knowledge gap that has led businesses down this expensive and risky path.

In these pages, you will find tools and techniques you can use to bring stunning performance gains to your data warehouse. This book develops a set of best practices for the selection, design, construction, and use of aggregate tables. It explores how these techniques can be incorporated into projects, studies advanced design considerations, and covers how aggregates affect other aspects of the data warehouse lifecycle.

Intended Audience

This book is intended for you, the data warehouse practitioner with an interest in improving query performance. You may serve any one of a number of roles in the data warehouse environment, including:

• Business analyst

• Star schema designer ...