OLAP

(Online Analytical Processing)

 Architecture

 Characteristics

 Relational OLAP

 Multidimensional OLAP

 ROLAP VS. MOLAP

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 What Is Data Warehouse?
 consolidates the information from different
data sources, enabling OLAP (online
analytical processing), to help decision
support.
 is maintained separately from an operational
database (which is used for OLTP – online
transaction processing).

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 OLAP
(Online Analytical Processing)

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 Multi-Tiered Architecture

Monitor
& OLAP Server
other Metadata
source Integrator
s Analysis
Operational Extract Query
Transform Data Serve Reports
DBs Load
Refresh
Warehouse Data mining

Data Marts
Data Sources Data Storage OLAP Engine Front-End Tools
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 What is OLAP?

 On-Line Analytical Processing

 Information technology to help the
knowledge worker (executive, manager,
analyst) make faster and better
decisions.
 OLAP is an element of decision support
systems

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 OLAP
 Create an advanced data analysis environment
that supports decision making, business
modeling and operation research activities.
 Characteristics of OLAP
• Use multidimensional data analysis technique
• Provide advance database support
• Provide easy-to-use end user interfaces.
• Support client/server architecture.

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 Two types of database activity
 OLTPand OLAP
OLTP: On-Line Transaction Processing
 Short transactions, both queries and updates
 (e.g., update account balance, enroll in course)
 Queries are simple
 (e.g., find account balance, find grade in course)
 Updates are frequent
 (e.g., concert tickets, seat reservations, shopping
carts)

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 OLAP: On-Line Analytical Processing
 Long transactions, usually complex queries
 (e.g., all statistics about all sales, grouped by
dept and month)
 “Data mining” operations
 Infrequent updates

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 OLTP Compared With OLAP

On Line Transaction  On Line Analytical

Processing – OLTP Processing - OLAP
– Maintain a database that – Use information in
is an accurate model of database to guide
some real-world enterprise strategic decisions
• Short simple transactions • Complex aggregation
• Relatively frequent updates queries
• Transactions access only a • Infrequent updates
small fraction of the • Transactions access a
database large fraction of the
database
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 RELATIONAL OLAP
 Provides functionality by using relational databases and
relational query tools to store and analyze
multidimensional data.
 Build on existing relational technologies and represents
extension to all those companies that already used
RDBMS
 ROLAP adds the following extensions to traditional
RDBMS
 Multidimensional data schema support within the
RDBMS
 Data access language and query performance are
optimized for multidimensional data.
 Support for very large data bases

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 Multidimensional OLAP
 MOLAP extends OLAP functionality to MDBMS
 Best suited to manage, store or analyze
multidimensional data.
 Proprietary techniques used in MDBMS.
 MDBMS and users visualize the stored data as a 3-
dimensional cube i.e data cube.
 MOLAP data bases are known to be much faster
than their ROLAP counter parts.
 Data cubes are held in memory called “cube cache”.

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 ROLAP vs MOLAP
Characteristics ROLAP MOLAP

SCHEMA Uses star schema Uses data cubes

Additional Additional dimensions
dimensions can be require re-creation of
added dynamically the data cube.
Database Medium to large Small to medium
size
Architecture Client/server Client/server

Access Support ad-hoc Limited to predefined

requests dimensions
Unlimited
dimensions

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 ROLAP vs MOLAP
Characteristics ROLAP MOLAP

Resources High Very high

Flexibility High Low

Scalability High Low

Speed Good with small Faster for small to

data sets medium data sets
Average for Average for large
medium to large data sets.
data set

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 Implementation of the OLAP Server
 ROLAP: Relational OLAP – data is stored in
tables in relational database or extended
relational databases. They use an RDBMS to
manage the warehouse data and aggregations
using often a star schema.
• They support extensions to SQL.
Advantage: Scalable.
Disadvantage: No direct access to cells.

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 Implementation of the OLAP Server
 MOLAP:Multidimensional OLAP - implements the
multidimensional view by storing data in special
multidimensional data structures.

Advantage:Fast indexing to pre-computed aggregations.

Only values are stored.

Disadvantage: Not very scalable.
•

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 Characteristics of OLAP
 Fast - means that the system targeted to deliver most
responses
to user within about five second, with the simplest
analysis taking no more than one second and very few
taking more than 20 sec.
 Share - means that the system implements all the
security requirements for confidentiality and, if multiple
write access is needed, concurrent update location at
an appropriated level not all applications need users to
write data back, but for the growing number that do,
the system should be able to handle multiple updates in
a timely, secure manner.

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 Analysis - means that the system can cope with any
business logic and statistical analysis that it relevant for
the application and the user, keep it easy enough for
the target user. Although some pre programming may
be needed we do not think it acceptable if all
application definitions have to be allow the user to
define new adhoc calculations as part of the analysis
and to report on the data in any desired way, without
having to program so we exclude products (like Oracle
Discoverer) that do not allow the user to define new
adhoc calculation as part of the analysis and to report
on the data in any desired product that do not allow
adequate end user oriented calculation flexibility.

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 Multidimensional - is the key requirement.
OLAP system must provide a multidimensional
conceptual view of the data, including full
support for hierarchies, as this is certainly the
most logical way to analyze business and
organizations.
 Information - are all of the data and derived
information needed? Wherever it is and
however much is relevant for the application.
We are measuring the capacity of various
products in terms of how much input data they
can handle, not how many gigabytes they take
to store it.

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What appears to be
the end may really
be a new beginning.

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