Data Warehousing

There used to be a data whohouse. Then a data whathouse. Then a data wherehouse. But it got lost, so...they renamed it.

A data warehouse is not, in fact, an actual physical building, but rather exists as a central repository of information. Very different from a central suppository of information. Able to be accessed by a number of authorized users, the data is analyzed and used for making groupy collectivist decisions. The data can flow in from a variety of sources including other databases or daily transactions that occur in a store or bank or a knitting circle, investing in Bitcoin, for example.

The big focus in data warehousing is easy storage and retrieval (along with safety) of the data itself. So the state of the art generally revolves around doing intelligent things to the data before it is stored so that it is teed up beautifully for easy retrieval of the key ideas or elements that users care about. Like...you could have a credit report stored on some remote server in Iowa with the most common user being a bank, likely seeking to loan you money. Wouldn't you think that the bankruptcy you had in 2010 would be the most important nugget of info there? That element would be presented first when a user asks for that record, if normal human logic were applied to the process of digesting data in this manner.

It gives rise to a whole new science: Data Whyhousing.