A Design Comparison: Data Warehouse Schema versus Conventional Relational Database Schema

Initially, relational database is for both operational and decision support system, as the information society experiences exponential growth in the amount of data/information to be stored in a database, a line has been drown between transactional database and decision support database. Unlike traditional database, data warehouse aims to come from a number of preexisting databases (developed from relational schemas). This conceptual paper discusses traditional database schema design and that of data warehouse schema architectural designs strategies that could be a guiding principles for both learners and beginners in database management system. It has explored the stages in development processes of the two. Subject orientation, data integration, non-volatility of data, and time variations are the key issues under consideration that could differentiate between traditional databases and data warehouse schema designs. It has also presented Design Modelling Techniques as well as addressing logical data models for data warehouse schema and traditional relational database.