| What
Is Oracle Database 10g?
Oracle
database is the server software that stores and provides access
to your business intelligence data. This server provides:
- Scalable data-management facilities for handling any amount
of data (Oracle database customers today work with tens of terabytes)
- An efficient query engine to execute complex calculations and
deliver data from the database
- Sophisticated features for high availability so that your data
is always available
- A robust security infrastructure
- A complete administration tool
(Oracle Enterprise Manager) and features to simplify and
automate the day-to-day management of the database
- Support for all major hardware platforms and operating systems
The Oracle database is a relational database. Data is stored in
tables and is accessed by
SQL (structured query language). Tools such as OracleBI Discoverer
retrieve data from the Oracle database by generating SQL statements.
Oracle database also has many extensions that manage a broad set
of data beyond simple database records, such as textual data (documents),
spatial data, and XML objects. Specifically for business intelligence,
Oracle database provides extensive OLAP and data mining capabilities,
each with their own powerful APIs.
You can think of Oracle database as the foundation of a business
intelligence solution. All business intelligence tools and applications
are built on top of this common infrastructure.
Using Oracle Database for Oracle Business Intelligence
If you are using
OracleBI Discoverer, you do not need to know any details
of the database. Your BI development team will design the database
and populate it with business data using
OracleBI Warehouse Builder, and will configure your Discoverer
metadata so that you can access the data that you need from the
database. Your database administrator (DBA) will take care of the
day-to-day maintenance of Oracle database. You can be free to view
data from the database, while relying on Oracle's tools to access
the data.
If you are a power user who is writing or modifying your own SQL
statements, then you need to know the SQL language and its extended
capabilities for business intelligence.
Oracle Database for Business Intelligence Developers
Oracle database is designed to support the requirements of all business
intelligence systems. Regardless of your requirements, Oracle database
should provide the capabilities that you need for a high-performance,
scalable, and secure BI infrastructure.
Oracle database supports all types of data models, including
star and snowflake schemas, as well as pure third normal
form schemas. You should choose the data model that best suits your
business needs.
Oracle database provides a breadth of capabilities for delivering
efficient query performance. These include several varieties of
table partitioning and indexing, as well as parallel capabilities.
Warehouse Builder will provide assistance in designing the appropriate
partitioning and indexing for your system.
Oracle database also supports complex analytic queries. By using
advanced SQL or Oracle10g OLAP, virtually any type of query
can be executed by the database.
Availability
Oracle database is an analysis-ready database with ETL, OLAP, and
data mining built into the data server. |
