Star/Snowflake Schema Design

Datawarehouses contain large amounts of data, usually based on time periods sometimes covering decades of data. These large data stores require different storage methods and relations to the standard online or application-style databases. Schema performance is improved by de-normalising the tables and moving towards a fact/dimension model instead.

The fact/dimension model is built around have few, usually one, main fact table with minimal information and a large number of surrogate keys. These keys point to dimensions that have more details that cover just about every possible situation for the dimension. These schemas are called star schemas or if there are more levels in the dimensions, then they are called snowflake schemas.

Cybersite Consulting can help convert your existing designs to a more functional and effective star schema for your datawarehousing projects.