Introduction to Data Warehousing

This course is an overview of basic data warehousing concepts, a guide for installing software and a step–by–step tutorial on using the software. This course is divided into three main sections:

Data Warehousing Basics

We begin with a conversation about data warehousing concepts, including the following:

What is a data warehouse?

Why do we need a data warehouse?

What is Extract, Transform and Load (ETL)?

The difference between OLAP and OLTP databases

The Star and Snowflake schemas

Fact and Dimension tables

These concepts can be difficult to understand, so I explain them using real conversation and examples. We have this conversation first so that you are familiar with the ideas as they are discussed in the later sections of the course.

Data Warehousing Software Installation

If you want to become good at data warehousing, you need to use the software. In this section I start by talking with you about the software and explain how the different pieces work together. Next is a step–by–step walkthrough of installing SQL Server Developer, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and Visual Studio Community with the SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package. The versions of software we download are all free for you to use.

SSIS Tutorial: Create a Project and Basic Package with SSIS