Deck 3: Data Warehousing

Question 1

Data warehouse administrators (DWAs) do not need strong business insight since they only handle the technical aspect of the infrastructure.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In the Isle of Capri case, the only capability added by the new software was increased processing speed of processing reports.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Without middleware, different BI programs cannot easily connect to the data warehouse.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Subject oriented databases for data warehousing are organized by detailed subjects such as disk drives, computers, and networks.

Question 5

The ETL process in data warehousing usually takes up a small portion of the time in a data-centric project.

Question 6

OLTP systems are designed to handle ad hoc analysis and complex queries that deal with many data items.

Question 7

One way an operational data store differs from a data warehouse is the recency of their data.

Question 8

Organizations seldom devote a lot of effort to creating metadata because it is not important for the effective use of data warehouses.

Question 9

The "islands of data" problem in the 1980s describes the phenomenon of unconnected data being stored in numerous locations within an organization.

Question 10

A well-designed data warehouse means that user requirements do not have to change as business needs change.

Question 11

Moving the data into a data warehouse is usually the easiest part of its creation.

Question 12

Two-tier data warehouse/BI infrastructures offer organizations more flexibility but cost more than three-tier ones.

Question 13

Bill Inmon advocates the data mart bus architecture whereas Ralph Kimball promotes the hub-and-spoke architecture, a data mart bus architecture with conformed dimensions.

Question 14

The hub-and-spoke data warehouse model uses a centralized warehouse feeding dependent data marts.

Question 15

Data warehouses are subsets of data marts.

Question 16

Because of performance and data quality issues, most experts agree that the federated architecture should supplement data warehouses, not replace them.

Question 17

Because the recession has raised interest in low-cost open source software, it is now set to replace traditional enterprise software.

Question 18

The data warehousing maturity model consists of six stages: prenatal, infant, child, teenager, adult, and sage.

Question 19

In the Starwood Hotels case, up-to-date data and faster reporting helped hotel managers better manage their occupancy rates.

Question 20

Large companies, especially those with revenue upwards of $500 million consistently reap substantial cost savings through the use of hosted data warehouses.

Question 21

Operational or transaction databases are product oriented, handling transactions that update the database. In contrast, data warehouses are

A) subject-oriented and nonvolatile.
B) product-oriented and nonvolatile.
C) product-oriented and volatile.
D) subject-oriented and volatile.

Question 22

Which of the following statements is more descriptive of active data warehouses in contrast with traditional data warehouses?

A) strategic decisions whose impacts are hard to measure
B) detailed data available for strategic use only
C) large numbers of users, including operational staffs
D) restrictive reporting with daily and weekly data currency

Question 23

Which approach to data warehouse integration focuses more on sharing process functionality than data across systems?

A) extraction, transformation, and load
B) enterprise application integration
C) enterprise information integration
D) enterprise function integration

Question 24

When querying a dimensional database, a user went from summarized data to its underlying details. The function that served this purpose is

A) dice.
B) slice.
C) roll-up.
D) drill down.

Question 25

In which stage of extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) into a data warehouse are anomalies detected and corrected?

A) transformation
B) extraction
C) load
D) cleanse

Question 26

Which of the following BEST enables a data warehouse to handle complex queries and scale up to handle many more requests?

A) use of the web by users as a front-end
B) parallel processing
C) Microsoft Windows
D) a larger IT staff

Question 27

A Web client that connects to a Web server, which is in turn connected to a BI application server, is reflective of a

A) one tier architecture.
B) two tier architecture.
C) three tier architecture.
D) four tier architecture.

Question 28

All of the following statements about metadata are true EXCEPT

A) metadata gives context to reported data.
B) there may be ethical issues involved in the creation of metadata.
C) metadata helps to describe the meaning and structure of data.
D) for most organizations, data warehouse metadata are an unnecessary expense.

Question 29

In which stage of extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) into a data warehouse are data aggregated?

A) transformation
B) extraction
C) load
D) cleanse

Question 30

All of the following are benefits of hosted data warehouses EXCEPT

A) smaller upfront investment.
B) better quality hardware.
C) greater control of data.
D) frees up in-house systems.

Question 31

The "single version of the truth" embodied in a data warehouse such as Capri Casinos' means all of the following EXCEPT

A) decision makers get to see the same results to queries.
B) decision makers have the same data available to support their decisions.
C) decision makers get to use more dependable data for their decisions.
D) decision makers have unfettered access to all data in the warehouse.

Question 32

When representing data in a data warehouse, using several dimension tables that are each connected only to a fact table means you are using which warehouse structure?

A) star schema
B) snowflake schema
C) relational schema
D) dimensional schema

Question 33

How does the use of cloud computing affect the scalability of a data warehouse?

A) Cloud computing vendors bring as much hardware as needed to users' offices.
B) Hardware resources are dynamically allocated as use increases.
C) Cloud vendors are mostly based overseas where the cost of labor is low.
D) Cloud computing has little effect on a data warehouse's scalability.

Question 34

Data warehouses provide direct and indirect benefits to using organizations. Which of the following is an indirect benefit of data warehouses?

A) better and more timely information
B) extensive new analyses performed by users
C) simplified access to data
D) improved customer service

Question 35

Active data warehousing can be used to support the highest level of decision making sophistication and power. The major feature that enables this in relation to handling the data is

A) country of (data) origin.
B) nature of the data.
C) speed of data transfer.
D) source of the data.

Question 36

Which data warehouse architecture uses metadata from existing data warehouses to create a hybrid logical data warehouse comprised of data from the other warehouses?

A) independent data marts architecture
B) centralized data warehouse architecture
C) hub-and-spoke data warehouse architecture
D) federated architecture

Question 37

All of the following are true about in-database processing technology EXCEPT

A) it pushes the algorithms to where the data is.
B) it makes the response to queries much faster than conventional databases.
C) it is often used for apps like credit card fraud detection and investment risk management.
D) it is the same as in-memory storage technology.

Question 38

Which data warehouse architecture uses a normalized relational warehouse that feeds multiple data marts?

A) independent data marts architecture
B) centralized data warehouse architecture
C) hub-and-spoke data warehouse architecture
D) federated architecture

Question 39

Which kind of data warehouse is created separately from the enterprise data warehouse by a department and not reliant on it for updates?

A) sectional data mart
B) public data mart
C) independent data mart
D) volatile data mart

Question 40

Which of the following online analytical processing (OLAP) technologies does NOT require the precomputation and storage of information?

A) MOLAP
B) ROLAP
C) HOLAP
D) SQL

Question 41

________, or "The Extended ASP Model," is a creative way of deploying information system applications where the provider licenses its applications to customers for use as a service on demand (usually over the Internet)

Question 42

Most data warehouses are built using ________ database management systems to control and manage the data.

Question 43

________ is a mechanism for pulling data from source systems to satisfy a request for information. It is an evolving tool space that promises real-time data integration from a variety of sources, such as relational databases, Web services, and multidimensional databases.

Question 44

Data ________ comprises data access, data federation, and change capture.

Question 45

________ (also called in-database analytics) refers to the integration of the algorithmic extent of data analytics into data warehouse.

Question 46

In the Michigan State Agencies case, the approach used was a(n) ________ one, instead of developing separate BI/DW platforms for each business area or state agency.

Question 47

With ________ data flows, managers can view the current state of their businesses and quickly identify problems.

Question 48

Performing extensive ________ to move data to the data warehouse may be a sign of poorly managed data and a fundamental lack of a coherent data management strategy.

Question 49

Online ________ is arguably the most commonly used data analysis technique in data warehouses.

Question 50

________ describe the structure and meaning of the data, contributing to their effective use.

Question 51

The role responsible for successful administration and management of a data warehouse is the ________, who should be familiar with high-performance software, hardware, and networking technologies, and also possesses solid business insight.

Question 52

________ modeling is a retrieval-based system that supports high-volume query access.

Question 53

The ________ Model, also known as the data mart approach, is a "plan big, build small" approach. A data mart is a subject-oriented or department-oriented data warehouse. It is a scaled-down version of a data warehouse that focuses on the requests of a specific department, such as marketing or sales.

Question 54

The ________ Model, also known as the EDW approach, emphasizes top-down development, employing established database development methodologies and tools, such as entity-relationship diagrams (ERD), and an adjustment of the spiral development approach.

Question 55

________ is a mechanism that integrates application functionality and shares functionality (rather than data) across systems, thereby enabling flexibility and reuse.

Question 56

In ________ oriented data warehousing, operational databases are tuned to handle transactions that update the database.

Question 57

The ________ data warehouse architecture involves integrating disparate systems and analytical resources from multiple sources to meet changing needs or business conditions.

Question 58

The three main types of data warehouses are data marts, operational ________, and enterprise data warehouses.

Question 59

A(n) ________ architecture is used to build a scalable and maintainable infrastructure that includes a centralized data warehouse and several dependent data marts.

Question 60

Online ________ is a term used for a transaction system that is primarily responsible for capturing and storing data related to day-to-day business functions such as ERP, CRM, SCM, and point of sale.

Question 61

What is the definition of a data warehouse (DW) in simple terms?

Question 62

Mehra (2005) indicated that few organizations really understand metadata, and fewer understand how to design and implement a metadata strategy. How would you describe metadata?

Question 63

In the MultiCare case, how was data warehousing able to reduce septicemia mortality rates in MultiCare hospitals?

Question 64

According to Kassam (2002), business metadata comprise information that increases our understanding of traditional (i.e., structured) data. What is the primary purpose of metadata?

Question 65

Briefly describe four major components of the data warehousing process.

Question 66

What is the definition of a data mart?

Question 67

More data, coming in faster and requiring immediate conversion into decisions, means that organizations are confronting the need for real-time data warehousing (RDW). How would you define real-time data warehousing?

Question 68

Mention briefly some of the recently popularized concepts and technologies that will play a significant role in defining the future of data warehousing.

Question 69

There are several basic information system architectures that can be used for data warehousing. What are they?

Question 70

A common way of introducing data warehousing is to refer to its fundamental characteristics. Describe three characteristics of data warehousing.