There Are No Queries From Hell
Posted at 2/25/2008 10:18:00 AM
"Queries from hell" really represent "preparation from hell." If you have a really nasty query that is consuming the system, it is already too late. But don't give up and get a job packing groceries yet.
In most cases, the biggest flaw in the preparation is the selection of the wrong infrastructure components. A database that is ideal for supporting an OLTP system is dead wrong for supporting information discovery and analytical processes. And, of course, those are the processes that are usually responsible for those famous queries. Trying to support a data warehouse with a record-based storage system is like trying to fly a plane with a diesel engine; while it may be possible to do it, it makes no sense.
Looking at some alternative storage technologies opens new business opportunities for the data warehouse, develops the real asset value of corporate information and banishes those famous queries.
“Information is a corporate asset” is a mantra that many IT people have been chanting for years. Recognition of information as a real corporate asset would give the IT industry a new status they have longingly sought for decades. However, what kind of asset should it be?
A drill press is an asset and so is a pile of cash. A drill press can be used to efficiently perform one step of a manufacturing process and a pile of cash can be used to accomplish almost any business objective in any line of business. If information is rigidly structured, it is like the drill press. If it can be accessed in any way at any time for any purpose, then it is more like cash. The good old RDBMS makes a wonderful drill press.
In most cases, the biggest flaw in the preparation is the selection of the wrong infrastructure components. A database that is ideal for supporting an OLTP system is dead wrong for supporting information discovery and analytical processes. And, of course, those are the processes that are usually responsible for those famous queries. Trying to support a data warehouse with a record-based storage system is like trying to fly a plane with a diesel engine; while it may be possible to do it, it makes no sense.
Looking at some alternative storage technologies opens new business opportunities for the data warehouse, develops the real asset value of corporate information and banishes those famous queries.
“Information is a corporate asset” is a mantra that many IT people have been chanting for years. Recognition of information as a real corporate asset would give the IT industry a new status they have longingly sought for decades. However, what kind of asset should it be?
A drill press is an asset and so is a pile of cash. A drill press can be used to efficiently perform one step of a manufacturing process and a pile of cash can be used to accomplish almost any business objective in any line of business. If information is rigidly structured, it is like the drill press. If it can be accessed in any way at any time for any purpose, then it is more like cash. The good old RDBMS makes a wonderful drill press.
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