Task 3 – OLTP Vs.

OLAP (27 marks)

Write a 2500 word report on the operational data using OLTP and analytical data using OLAP.
The report should include the following:
a. Overview of OLTP
b. Overview of OLAP
c. Four advantages and Four disadvantages of the OLTP
d. Four advantages and Four disadvantages of the OLAP
e. Give your reasons for which type of organization you would recommend OLTP or OLAP.

 
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INTRODUCTION

OLTP and OLAP systems are transaction and analytical systems

respectively. They are the branches of information systems. OLTP systems are
transaction based systems which provide the source data and OLAP systems are
analytical system which are used to analyze the data. Here in OLTP systems, a
transaction is a logical task which must be finished of aborted, in this case,
intermediate states are not accepted. An analytical system is capable of analyzing
large amounts of data. OLTP systems are used to handle large amounts of short
online transactions. The operations performed by a OLTP system are insert, update
and delete. OLTP systems maintain data integrity and they also provide fast query
processing in environments having multiple access. Transactions per second
determine the efficiency of this system. The current and detailed data is stored as an
entity model in this type of system usually 3NF. The databases in this type of a system
mostly contain transactional data. OLAP systems have low number of transaction
when compared to a OLTP system. OLAP systems store historical data. The response
time determines the efficiency of this system. Queries from this type of systems are
more complex. Data mining techniques also use OLAP application. These systems
store data in a star schema in their databases.

DEFINITION OF OLAP

OLAP is computer processing that enables a user to easily and selectively

extract and view data from different points of view. In other words OLAP is a term that
describes a technology that uses a multi dimensional view of aggregate data to
provide quick access to strategic information for the purpose of advanced analysis. To
facilitate this kind of analysis, OLAP data is stored in a multidimensional database.
Whereas a relational database can be thought of as two-dimensional, a
multidimensional database considers each data attribute as a separate "dimension."
OLAP software can locate the intersection of dimensions and display them.

 
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OVERVIEW OF OLAP

OLAP system can handle any number of queries at the same time. There are two types
of OLAP systems, they are multi dimensional and relational which are in short called
as MOLAP and ROLAP. OLAP systems are mainly used to process multidimensional
queries and are used mostly in business related fields because they have efficient
budgeting. OLAP is defined as multidimensional cubes which uses matrix to represent
things to analyze and calculate. OLAP is also used for discovery of relationships and
also in data mining. It is not necessary that a OLAP database should be as large as a
data ware house. Data can be imported from existing relational databases to create
multidimensional database using a open database connectivity. Hyperion Solution's
Essbase and Oracle's Express Server are leading OLAP products which are designed for
multiple-user environments. Pre-calculation and storage is necessary because the
data is stores in multi – dimensional arrays. Relational database works directly with
relational OLAP. In here aggregate information is kept by creation of relational table
and the values being stored respectively. Here the relational part holds more data and
the specialized storage holds lesser data. There is also an other type of OLAP which is
called as hybrid. The hybrid is like a combination of relational and specialized space, in
other words hybrid is a blend of both multidimensional and relational OLAP which is
more efficient and useful than the other two types. But I consider relational is better in
performance that the rest. The other types are Web-based OLAP, desktop based OLAP
and Real time OLAP, and these are not most prominently used.

 
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FEATURES

OLAP systems are normally offline systems and are the secondary source of
information. The main operation of OLAP systems is read-only. OLAP operations
include rollup (increasing the level of aggregation) and drill-down (decreasing the
level of aggregation or increasing detail) along one or more dimension hierarchies,
slice_and_dice (selection and projection), and pivot (re-orienting the
multidimensional view of data). In these systems, standard file formats and standard
naming conventions are used. The data n=must be integrated and organized by the
dimensions of the business. All types of data are integrated into one system and the
data is updated periodically. These systems contain historical data and also have the
time key (time series analysis). Only one warehouse server (logical server) is used in
these type of systems. Rolap architecture accesses data directly from ware houses.
According to ROLAP architects , OLAP capabilities are best only when provided
against a relational database. Multidimensional databases are used to provide
analysis and they believe that OLAP is best implemented by storing data multi
dimensionally. While comparing the different architectures we can see that Query
performance of ROLAP is not high and ROLAP has limitations in specialized functions
because it relies on databases to perform its calculations. MOLAP provides better
performance and it requires less storage because it uses compression techniques
when compared to ROLAP. MOLAP implementations always have a database
explosion threat.

 
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ADVANTAGES OF OLAP

OLAP systems have effective decision making and they also provide access to
strategic information. Application backlogs are reduced in OLAP systems. These
systems respond more quickly to market demands and they also reduce the network
traffic and query drag on transaction systems or data warehouses. OLAP applications
provide faster service and in whole they increase the productivity of the organization.
These systems can be used in all types of business.

DISADVANTAGES OF OLAP

These systems cannot access data in a very short time. When it come to MOLAP
systems, they are limited to data that they can handle because the calculations are
performed only when the cube is built. Large amounts of data cannot be included in
the cube itself, in other words only summary level information will be included.
Functionalities inherent to relational database are leveraged by ROLAP and also the
performance of ROLAP can be slow because the ROLAP report is an SQL query in a
relational database, if the data size is large the query time will be long. The cube
technology do not exist in an organization and hence MOLAP requires extra
investment. Irrespective of the advantages and disadvantages, OLAP is more
preferred because large volumes of data can be stored in this types of processing
technique.

 
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RECOMMENDATIONS

OLAP applications can be used in a wide variety of organizational functions.

Finance departments can use OLAP for applications such as budgeting, activity-based
costing, financial performance analysis, and financial modeling. OLAP can also be
used for Sales analysis by sales departments. Marketing departments can use OLAP
for market research analysis, sales forecasting, promotions analysis, customer
analysis, and market & customer segmentation, These include in the OLAP based
applications and Typical manufacturing of OLAP applications should include
production planning and defect analysis. The key indicator of a successful OLAP
application is its ability to provide information as needed. This requires more than a
base level of detailed data. Industries that have large amount of data can use OLAP
systems for example industries like transport, retail and consumer goods. These
industries tend to have rich internal and external data.

 
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DEFINITION OF OLTP

OLTP is a class of program that facilitates and manages transaction-oriented

applications, typically for data entry and retrieval transactions. Probably the most
widely installed OLTP product is IBM's CICS (Customer Information Control System).

OVERVIEW OF OLTP

The main task that OLTP systems deal with is TRANSACTIONS. They generate and
handle transaction based applications. For example these types of systems are used in
e-banking where transaction is necessary and plays a major role another place where
they are used are automated teller machines in which transaction should me made
very fast. In this case, the system must respond very fast to the users request. So these
kind of systems use a broking software and a client server processing that allows
transactions on various platforms. They are capable of handling large amounts of
concurrent data. The SOA architecture (service oriented architecture) and web
services are added with OLTP so that online transactions can be done.

The main purpose of these systems is to provide efficient transactions online. The size
of data is reduced and the duplicates are reduced using the normalization technique.
User using these type of systems are very much concerned with the total time taken
for the transactions and most of the users are likely to do short DML transactions. The
performance load should be reduced by allocating more space inorder to keep the
system effective.

 
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FEATURES

OLTP systems have recent and current data in their databases, they are the primary
source of information, OLTP system is an online system in which data can be updated
online. Different types are file formats are holded by different systems. The data is
organized by the application and there are different naming conventions. Can be
used and a wide range of hardware platforms and there is no need for time series
analysis. The data is typically not integrated. The major functions of this system are
insert, update, delete and select.

ADVANTAGES OF OLTP

Customer have their own choice of making payments. In these type of systems, the
results are more accurate and precise. The transactions are modified timely and hence
support a stable organization. Individual processes are simplified hence speeding up
the process.

DISADVANTAGES OF OLTP

In case of a server failure there are chances for data loss and processes can delay.
Locking issues affect DML operations and hence bitmap indexes will not work good
for these systems. Even a very careless mistake could lead to severe problems later
leading to wastage of time and money. Since the information is made available
worldwide, it is easy for hackers to gain access hence these systems are prone to a
direct attack. OLTP systems are very efficient and they reduce manual work and are
capable of handling large data and processing it. These systems can be very helpful in
large organizations dealing with huge amounts of data. Drawback of these systems
are these systems are not reliable and the security is not so high because they can be
affected by network availability issues , system failure and even if the database is
corrupted.

 
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RECOMMENDATIONS

My recommendations are, people or organizations those who are in need of

transaction based applications mainly focusing on data retrieval and entry can use
these types of systems. For example these systems can be uses by organizations like
mail order, manufacturing, survey organizations, airlines banks etc. Electronic
banking, order processing , e- trading , e-commerce are some types of application
based on these systems.

OLAP VS OLTP

CRITERIA OLAP SYSTEM OLTP SYSTEM

ONLINE ANALYTICAL PROCESSING
(DATA WAREHOUSE)
SOURCE OF DATA OLAP- DATA COMES FROM VARIOUS
OLTP DATABASES
PURPOSE OF DATA TO HELP WITH PLANNING, PROBLEM
SOLVING AND DECISION SUPPORT
WHAT THE DATA REVEALS MULTI DIMENSIONAL VIEWS OF VARIOUS
KINDS OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
INSERTS AND UPDATES PERIODIC LONG-RUNNING BATCH JOBS
REFRESH THE DATA
QUERIES OFTEN COMPLEX QUERIES INVOLVES
AGGREGATIONS
PROCESSING SPEED DEPENDS ON THE AMOUNT OF DATA
INVOLVED; BATCH DATA REFRESHED
AND COMPLEX QUERIES MAY TAKE
MANY HOURS; QUERY SPEED CAN BE
IMPROVED BY CREATING INDEXES
SPACE REQUIREMENTS LARGER DUE TO THE EXISTANCE OF
AGGREGATION STRUCTURES AND THE
HISTORY DATA; REQUIRES MORE
INDEXES THAN OLTP
DATABASE DESIGN TYPICALLY DE-NORMALIZED WITH
FEWER TABLES;USE OF STAR OR
SNOWFLAKE SCHEMAS
BACKUP AND RECOVERY INSTEAD F REGULAR BACKUPS, SOME
ENVIRONMENTS MAY CONSIDER SIMPLY
RELOADING THE OLTP DATA AS A
RECOVERY METHOD.
ONLINE TRANSACTION PROCESSING
(OPERATIONAL SYSTEM)
OLTP; OPERATIONAL DATA, IS THE
ORIGINAL SOURCE OF DATA
TO CONTROL AND RUN FUNDAMENTAL
BUSINESS TASKS.
A SNAPSHOT OF ONGOING BUSINESS
PROCESS
SHART AND FAST INSERTS AND UPDATES
INITIATED BY END USERS
RELATIVELY STANDARDIZED AND
SIMPLE QUERIES RETURNING
RELATIVELY FEW RECORDS
TYPICALLY VERY FAST
CAN BE RELATIVELY SMALL IF
HISTORICAL DATA IS ARCHIVED
HIGHLY NORMALIZED WITH MANY
TABLES
BACKUP IS NECESSARY BECAUSE
OPERATIONAL DATA IS CRITICAL TO RUM
THE BUSINESS, DATA LOSS IS LIKELY TO
ENTAIL SIGNIFICANT MONETARY LOSS
AND LEGAL LIABILITY.

 
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