Oracle Tips  by Burleson Consulting

The Data Warehouse Development Life Cycle

Data Warehouse Development Methods  

Phase 3: Systems Design systems analysis design implementation warehouse

The systems design phase is the physical implementation of the logical data model that was developed in the systems analysis phase. This includes the design of the warehouse, specifications for data extraction tools, data loading processes, and warehouse access methods. At this phase, a working prototype should be created for the end-user.

The system design phase is also where the logical documentation is transformed into a physical structure. For database design, this involves the creation of the entity/relation model, and the determination of appropriate data storage techniques and index usage. This phase is where a thorough understanding of Oracle architecture will pay off. For more information on this topic, see Chapter 4, Data Warehouse Design.

Phase 4: Implementation

The implementation phase is the phase in which the warehouse is constructed and the software is written and tested.

As shown in Figure 2.1, the implementation phase normally consumes as much effort as all of the other steps combined. Advocates of object-oriented development claim that this is a direct result of a failure of the team to do a thorough job in the analysis and design phases. They argue that this phase is time consuming because hidden anomalies are discovered and code must be revised constantly to accommodate new insights into the nuances of the system. Regardless of the reason why, it remains true that the implementation phase is by far the most time-consuming phase in the creation of a warehouse system.
Oracle also has some very specific rules and techniques that can be used to ensure maximum performance. There are several chapters devoted entirely to Oracle-specific topics, but the text will first concentrate on providing a firm conceptual understanding of data warehouse design for relational databases.

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This is an excerpt from "High Performance Data Warehousing". To learn more about Oracle, try "Oracle Tuning: The Definitive Reference", by Donald K. Burleson.  You can buy it direct from the publisher at 30% off here:
http://www.rampant-books.com/book_1002_oracle_tuning_definitive_reference_2nd_ed.htm