Design a Scalable Data Model

Learn how to organize complex data into an easy-to-navigate star schema that makes analysis faster and smarter.

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When we talked about where data lives—whether in a data warehouse or a lakehouse—we took a big step in understanding how data flows and is stored. Now, imagine you’re designing a map to navigate through all that stored data. This map helps data engineers and analysts find the answers they need without getting lost.

That’s where the star schema comes in. It’s like creating a well-marked star-shaped map for your data, making it easy to explore and analyze.

The star schema is also known as the Kimball data modelhttps://www.owox.com/blog/articles/star-schema-explained because it was developed by Ralph Kimball in the 1990s. The star schema helps store large datasets efficiently while maintaining historical data.

Enter the star schema

The star schema is one of the easiest and most popular ways to structure a data warehouse. It’s called a star because its layout looks like one—there’s a central table with several other tables branching out from it.

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