Re: Normalizing vs. Denormalizing

From: Bob Stewart <bob_at_latcost1.alaao.ats.eds.com>
Date: 1996/04/12
Message-ID: <4km5s7$4pl_at_maverick.tad.eds.com>#1/1


Shariq Mansoor (opto2y_at_menudo.uh.edu) wrote:
: There are several performance techniques you can use to improve the
: performance of your system including caching schemes, indexing, fast
: disk access, SGA, and shared_pool.....etc. By denormalization you are
: really defeating the purpose of relational database. Remember that once
: you develop a system it is not EASY to make changes later. Remember you
: are not just storing DATA but translting your way of doing business and
: rules into an information system, and if your system is not normalize,
: you won't be able to utilize the new concepts (Data mining, Data
: warehousing....etc.) to there full potential. This means that you have

I think that you'll find that normalizing is detrimental to running a Data Warehouse.

: to spend time and effort down the road (probably very soon)on your existing
: system. RDMS such as Oracle are designed to handle normalization very
: well even with the basic configuration and with a help of a good DBA you
: can design a 3rd or even 4th deg. normalize system without any significant
: performance problem. Consider demormalization only when the performance

Bull. Accepting an answer like this requires little thought from the acceptor, of course. Unfortunately, as a result, little thought will have gone into the use for which the database is being designed. Normalizing just because "it's what you should do" is really stupid. I wouldn't make my design decisions based on what Oracle (et al) are supposed to do, but rather on what use my customers will be putting their data to.

Asbestos suit is now on!

--
Bob Stewart                     ASE
(310) 335-7152                  Air Transportation Division
bob_at_latcost1.alaao.ats.eds.com

I am definitely NOT speaking for EDS.
Received on Fri Apr 12 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST

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