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Understanding Data Mart Types and Design

A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse focused on a particular subject area like sales or marketing. There are three types of data marts: dependent data marts draw data from a central data warehouse, independent data marts are created without a central data warehouse, and hybrid data marts combine data from multiple sources including a data warehouse. The key steps to implement a data mart are designing its schema and structure, constructing the physical database, populating it with data from source systems, providing access to users to analyze the data, and ongoing management of the data mart.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
48 views4 pages

Understanding Data Mart Types and Design

A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse focused on a particular subject area like sales or marketing. There are three types of data marts: dependent data marts draw data from a central data warehouse, independent data marts are created without a central data warehouse, and hybrid data marts combine data from multiple sources including a data warehouse. The key steps to implement a data mart are designing its schema and structure, constructing the physical database, populating it with data from source systems, providing access to users to analyze the data, and ongoing management of the data mart.

Uploaded by

Godfrey Nyoni
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Data Mart

A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse focused on a particular line of business, department,


or subject area such as Sales or Finance or Marketing. Data marts are often built and controlled
by a single department within an organization. Data marts are typically smaller and less complex
than data warehouses; hence, they are typically easier to build and maintain.
Types of data marts
There are three basic types of data marts are dependent, independent, and hybrid.
Dependent Data Marts
 It draws data from a central data warehouse that has already been created. allows one to unite
organization's data into one data warehouse. This provides the usual advantages of centralization.
It is a top-down structure in which all the enterprise data is stored in a central location. The
diagram below illustrates a dependent data mart.

Independent Data Marts


In a bottom-up approach a data mart development is “Independent” of enterprise data warehouse.
It is created without the use of a central data warehouse. This kind of Data Mart is an ideal
option for smaller groups within an organization. As the name suggests, this kind of data mart is
neither related to the enterprise data warehouse nor any other data mart. It inputs data separately,
and the analyses are also executed independently. As more and more independent data marts are
constructed, the data redundancy also increases across the organization. This is because every
independent data mart needs its own, usually a duplicate copy of the comprehensive business
information. The diagram below illustrates a independent data mart.

Hybrid Data Marts


It is a mixture of dependent and independent data marts. It’s suitable for businesses that have
multiple databases and need a quick turnaround. Combines data from several operational source
systems in addition to a data warehouse. These data marts are particularly useful when you
require ad hoc integration, such as adding a new group or products to the business. The diagram
below illustrates a hybrid data mart.
Steps in Implementing a Data Mart
The significant steps in implementing a data mart are to design the schema, construct the
physical storage, populate the data mart with data from source systems, access it to make
informed decisions and manage it over time. So, the steps are:
Designing
The design step is the first in the data mart process. This phase covers all of the functions from
initiating the request for a data mart through gathering data about the requirements and
developing the logical and physical design of the data mart.
It involves the following tasks:
1. Gathering the business and technical requirements
2. Identifying data sources
3. Selecting the appropriate subset of data
4. Designing the logical and physical architecture of the data mart.
Constructing

This step contains creating the physical database and logical structures associated with the data
mart to provide fast and efficient access to the data.

It involves the following tasks:

1. Creating the physical database and logical structures such as tablespaces associated with
the data mart.
2. creating the schema objects such as tables and indexes describe in the design step.
3. Determining how best to set up the tables and access structures.
Populating
This step includes all of the tasks related to the getting data from the source, cleaning it up,
modifying it to the right format and level of detail, and moving it into the data mart.
It involves the following tasks:
1. Mapping data sources to target data sources
2. Extracting data
3. Cleansing and transforming the information.
4. Loading data into the data mart
5. Creating and storing metadata
Accessing
This step involves putting the data to use: querying the data, analyzing it, creating reports, charts
and graphs and publishing them.
It involves the following tasks:
1. Set up and intermediate layer (Meta Layer) for the front-end tool to use. This layer
translates database operations and objects names into business conditions so that the end-
clients can interact with the data mart using words which relates to the business
functions.
2. Set up and manage database architectures like summarized tables which help queries
agree through the front-end tools execute rapidly and efficiently.
Managing
This step contains managing the data mart over its lifetime. In this step, management functions
are performed as:
1. Providing secure access to the data.
2. Managing the growth of the data.
3. Optimizing the system for better performance.
4. Ensuring the availability of data event with system failures.

Common questions

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The management functions ensure reliability and performance by providing secure data access, managing data growth, optimizing system performance, and ensuring data availability despite failures . These functions are crucial for maintaining data integrity, preventing unauthorized access, and ensuring that the data mart remains efficient and responsive to user queries over time.

Independent data marts can lead to significant data redundancy because each mart needs its own data set, often duplicating business information already stored elsewhere. This redundancy can cause integrity challenges, as discrepancies between independent data copies might arise, leading to potential inconsistencies across the organization. Managing such isolated data sources can also be resource-intensive and create complexities in ensuring data accuracy and consistency .

The design phase is pivotal as it sets the foundation for the data mart's functionality and performance. It involves gathering business and technical requirements, selecting appropriate data subsets, and developing logical and physical structures . By aligning these elements with business needs, the design phase ensures the data mart supports decision-making effectively and integrates seamlessly into existing systems, minimizing future adjustments and enhancing data relevance and accessibility.

Dependent data marts draw data from a central data warehouse already created, allowing all organizational data to be unified into one warehouse, which provides centralized advantages . On the other hand, independent data marts are developed without the central data warehouse, operating independently and executing analyses separately. This independence leads to data redundancy as each independent data mart requires its own set of comprehensive business information .

The 'Accessing' step in data mart implementation involves querying and analyzing the data, creating reports and visualizations, and publishing them for decision-making. It's crucial as it sets up a meta-layer translating database operations into business terms, allowing end users to interact with the data mart intuitively. This interaction layer ensures queries are processed efficiently, enhancing user experience and enabling informed decision-making .

Hybrid data marts combine elements of both dependent and independent data marts, making them suitable for organizations with multiple databases requiring quick integration. They bring together data from several operational source systems alongside data from a warehouse, facilitating ad hoc integration needed for new groups or product lines . This approach balances the centralization benefits of dependent marts with the flexibility of independent marts.

Hybrid data marts facilitate quick data integration by drawing information from both operational source systems and existing data warehouses, making them adaptable to changes like new product lines or business groups . They enable rapid data assembly from diverse sources without waiting for centralized processes to update, thus supporting businesses in swiftly reacting to market changes or organizational shifts.

The 'Populating' step is critical because it involves transforming raw source data into a usable form within the data mart. This step encompasses mapping source data to targets, extracting data, cleansing and transforming it to the required format and detail level, loading it into the mart, and creating metadata . Successful completion of these tasks ensures data within the mart is accurate, relevant, and ready for analysis.

In a centralized business environment, dependent data marts offer integration benefits by drawing data from a central warehouse, thus providing a unified data source that ensures consistency and reduces redundancy . This centralization enhances data reliability and analysis accuracy. Conversely, independent data marts, while offering more autonomy to departments, can increase data duplication and inconsistency issues across the organization, making dependent marts advantageous for maintaining coherent data practices.

The 'Constructing' phase involves creating the physical database, setting up logical structures such as tablespaces, and defining schema objects like tables and indexes . These tasks are essential for organizing the data infrastructure to ensure quick and efficient access, as they directly affect how rapidly queries can be executed and how effectively data can be retrieved and analyzed by end-users.

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