Fig. 12.1.5 The data warehouse—the single version of the truth.The definition of a data warehouse has been around since the beginning of data
warehousing. A data warehouse is a subject-oriented, integrated, nonvolatile, time-variant
collection of data in support of management's decisions. A data warehouse contains
detailed, integrated data that are historical.
Another way of thinking about a data warehouse is that a data warehouse is a “single
version of the truth.” The data warehouse is the detailed, integrated bedrock data that can
be used for decision-making purposes throughout the organization.
The data model that best serves as a basis for the data warehouse is the relational model.
The relational model is normalized data and is good for representing data at its most
granular level.
Fig. 12.1.6 shows the relational model that serves as a design foundation for the data
warehouse.
Chapter 12.1: Operational Analytics