Infrastructure As The Foundation for Data Warehousing

CHAPTER 8  Infrastructure As The Foundation for Data Warehousing
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

• Understand the distinction between architecture and infrastructure
• Find out how data warehouse infrastructure supports it architecture
• Gain an insight into the components of the physical infrastructure
• Review hardware and operating systems for the data warehouse
• Study parallel processing options as applicable to the data warehouse
• Discuss the server options in detail
• Learn how to select the DBMS
• Review the types of tools needed for the data warehouse

What is data warehouse infrastructure in relation to its architecture? What is the distinction between architecture and infrastructure In what ways are they different? Why do we have to study the two separately'?

 In the previous chapter, we discussed data warehouse architecture in detail. We looked at the various architectural components and studied them by grouping them into the three major areas of the data warehouse, namely, data acquisition, data storage, and information delivery. You learned the elements that composed the technical architecture of each architectural component.

In this chapter, let us find out what infrastructure means and what it includes. We will discuss each part of the data warehouse infrastructure. You will understand the significance of infrastructure and master the techniques for creating the proper infrastructure for your data warehouse.