An example of this might be “customer account number” (CAN). In a perfect world, the
CAN would be assigned once and never change—it would also be assigned to the same
customer, forever. This would be the ultimate in master data management. Regardless of
the business process or source application that is processing the CAN, the value would
remain the same. Once this occurs, tracing the CAN through the life cycle of the business
is an easy undertaking.

Data Vault Model Defined

A DVM is a detail-oriented, historical tracking and uniquely linked set of normalized
tables that support one or more functional areas of business. In DV2, the model entities
are keyed by hashes, while in DV1, the model entities are keyed by sequences.

The modeling style is a hybrid of third normal form and dimensional modeling techniques
—uniquely combined to meet the needs of the enterprise. The DVM is also based on
patterns found in hub-and-spoke-type diagramming, otherwise known as scale-free
network design (Fig. 6.2.1).

Chapter 6.2: Introduction to Data Vault Modeling