Snowflake Schema

What is Snowflake Schema?

Snowflake Schema is a multidimensional data model used for business intelligence and reporting in data warehouses, data marts, and relational databases. It is an extension of a Star Schema, where dimension tables are broken down into subdimensions.

Compared to Star Schemas, Snowflake Schemas are more normalized, which offers better storage efficiency and enforces data quality. However, query performance is not as good as with more denormalized data models like Star Schemas.

Benefits of Snowflake Schemas include fast data retrieval, a simple and common data model for data warehousing, and enforced data quality.

In summary, a Snowflake Schema is a complex but efficient data model that can improve data quality and retrieval speed in data warehousing and reporting.