Chapter 8.3

The Data Warehouse/Operational Environment

Interface

Abstract

Data architecture began with simple storage devices. But soon, the need to store lots of
data and to access the data quickly caused these early devices to disappear. In its place
came disk storage. With disk storage, data could be accessed directly. But the need for
managing volumes of data surpassed that of disk storage. One day, there appeared big
data. And with big data came the ability to store effectively unlimited amounts of data.
But as big data grew, the older day-to-day systems did not go away. There began to be a
need for a rational way to interface legacy systems to big data.

Keywords

Storage device; Paper tape; Punched cards; Disk storage direct access of data; Big data;
Interfacing corporate data and big data

As interesting as the big data/existing system interface is, it is not the only interface the
data architect needs to know about. The other major interface in the corporate systems
environment that is of interest is the interface between the operational environment and
the data warehouse.

The Operational/Data Warehouse Interface

Fig. 8.3.1 shows the interface between the operational environment and the data
warehouse environment.

Chapter 8.3: The Data Warehouse/Operational Environment Interface