INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORTING ARCHITECTURE
Consider architecture components. For example, let us take the technical architecture of data staging component. The part of the technical architecture for… data warehouse does a number of things. First of all, it indicates that there is a section of' the architecture called data staging. Then it notes that this section of the architecture contains an area where data is staged before it is loaded into the data warehouse repository. Next, it denotes that tins section of the architecture: performs certain functions and provides specific service in the data warehouse. Among others, the functions and services include data transformation and data cleansing.
Let us now ask a few questions. Where exactly is the data staging area? What are the specific files and databases? I low do the functions gel performed? What enables the services to be provides? What is the underlying base? What is the foundational structure? Infrastructure is the foundation supporting the architecture. Figure 8 -1 expresses this fact in a simple manner.
What arc the various elements needed to support the architecture'? The foundational infrastructure includes many elements. First, it consists of the basic Computing platform. The platform includes in the required hardware and the operating system. Next, the database management system (MDBS) is an important element of the Infrastructure. All other types of software and tools are also part of the infrastructure. What about the people and the procedures that make the architecture come alive? Are these also part of the infrastructure? In a sense, they are.
Data warehouse infrastructure includes all the foundational demerits that enable then architecture to be implemented. In summary, the infrastructure includes several dements such as server hardware, operating system, network software, database software, the LAN and WAN, vendor tools for every architectural component, people, procedures and training.
The elements of the data warehouse infrastructure may be classified into two categories: operational infrastructure and physical infrastructure. This distinction is important because elements in each category are different in their nature and features compared those in the other category. First, we will go over the elements that may be grouped as operational infrastructure. The physical infrastructure is much wider and move foundational
Figure 8-1: Infrastructure supporting architecture
After gaining a basic understanding of the elements of the
physical architecture, we will spend a large portion of this chapter examining
specific elements in greater detail.
