Data Warehouse Dining Experience
Managing a data warehouse is similar to running a restaurant.
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
January 1, 2004
No Detail Too Small
Although there's no substitute for atomic details, look into complementary consolidations
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
October 30, 2003
Fistful of Flaws
Use this checklist to review your dimensional models
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
October 10, 2003
The Bottom-Up Misnomer
Our data-warehousing approach is sometimes referred to as bottom-up, but it's far from it
by Margy Ross & Ralph Kimball
September 17, 2003
Habits of Effective Sponsors
Business sponsors can make or break a data warehouse program. What habits make or break a business sponsor?
by Margy Ross edited by Ralph Kimball
September 1, 2003
Better Storytelling
Dimensional design techniques bind events into stories
by Jim Stagnitto edited by Ralph Kimball
August 10, 2003
RFID Tags and Smart Dust
RFID tagging will create not just a tidal wave of data, but lifetime employment for data warehouse designers
by Ralph Kimball
July 18, 2003
Real Time: Get Real, Part II
Start by discarding your current concepts of ETL
by Neil Raden edited by Ralph Kimball
June 30, 2003
Real Time: Get Real
Take the idea of a real-time data warehouse with a grain of salt, then realize the possibilities
by Neil Raden edited by Ralph Kimball
June 17, 2003
Is Hand-Coded ETL the Way to Go?
Absolutely yes, or absolutely no, depending...
by Gary Nissen edited by Ralph Kimball
May 31, 2003
TCO Starts With the End User
The conventional view of data warehouse total cost of ownership is myopic and wrong
by Ralph Kimball
May 13, 2003
The Soul of the Data Warehouse, Part 3: Handling Time
The data warehouse takes a pledge to preserve history
by Ralph Kimball
April 22, 2003
The Soul of the Data Warehouse, Part Two: Drilling Across
Drilling across means asking for the same row headers from another fact table
by Ralph Kimball
April 5, 2003
The Soul of the Data Warehouse, Part One: Drilling Down
Drilling down just means 'show me more detail'
by Ralph Kimball
March 20, 2003
Declaring the Grain
It's the most important dimensional design step after identifying data sources
by Ralph Kimball
March 1, 2003
Fact Tables and Dimension Tables
The logical foundation of dimensional modeling
by Ralph Kimball
January 1, 2003
Divide and Conquer
Build your data warehouse one piece at a time
by Ralph Kimball
October 30, 2002
Two Powerful Ideas
The foundations for modern data warehousing
by Ralph Kimball
September 17, 2002
Design Constraints and Unavoidable Realities
No design problem in school was this hard
by Ralph Kimball
September 3, 2002
An Engineer's View
It's worthwhile to remind ourselves why we build data warehouses the way we do
by Ralph Kimball
July 26, 2002
Tricky Time Spans
The time dimension isn't nearly as simple as it looks
by Ralph Kimball
June 13, 2002
Wrangling Behavior Tags
Behavior tags are true 'text facts.' How do we handle them in a data warehouse?
by Ralph Kimball
May 9, 2002
Behavior: The Next Marquee Application
It's time to start using more advanced analytics
by Ralph Kimball
April 16, 2002
Doing the Work at Extract Time
Countering the minimalist approach
by Ralph Kimball
February 21, 2002
Realtime Partitions
Build a special extension of each fact table to complement your static data warehouse
by Ralph Kimball
February 1, 2002
The Anti-Architect
How not to design and roll out a data warehouse
by Ralph Kimball
January 14, 2002
Catastrophic Failure
Know the threats to your mission-critical data warehouse and how to defend against them
by Ralph Kimball
November 12, 2001
What Not to Do
Dimensional modeling mistakes to guard against
by Ralph Kimball
October 24, 2001
Managing Your Parents
Be mindful of reporting needs when designing parent and child fact tables
by Ralph Kimball
September 18, 2001
Managing Helper Tables
A careful look at many-to-many relationships between important dimensions
by Ralph Kimball
August 10, 2001
