Operational Database | Data Mart | Data Warehouse |
| Highly normalized Some summary data for online reporting Requirements driven Supports read/write access by applications Specific to one or more applications Operational applications typically work with this type of database | Highly denormalized Requirements driven Specific to a single department and/or collection of application reports Contains a snapshot of near-term information, typically less than a year old Supports read-only access by applications Often uses multi-dimensional database management system Supports very flexible and unpredictable access to data Ad-hoc reporting facilities typically work with this type of database | Highly normalized May some summary data Flexible design which stores granular data Supports read-only access by applications Not specific to any application or department Driven by enterprise-level requirements Contains massive amounts of data, typically an order of magnitude greater than a data mart or operational database Often includes several (upwards to ten) years worth of data “Standard” reports are developed and run on a regular basis against this type of database |
Comparing Database Types
