Chapter 7. Architecture and Design

Setting the foundation of your business intelligence and data warehouse solution is key to the project. By making specific architecture and design decisions, you will be required to build the solution in a particular way. It is essential to understand some of the different architectural options and how they will affect your design, before you begin the development effort. The following recipes will review some of the key architecture and design issues that should be addressed by the project:

• Choosing your database type

• Defining your database layout

• Selecting the Third Normal Form or a Dimensional model

Introduction

Making a mistake at the architecture and design stage of the project will have many ramifications in the form of rework and additional time, cost, and expense. Business intelligence and data warehouse projects have been around for many years, and there is a wealth of best practice information available, which is a great place to begin your project...