# Online Analytical Processing Explained ![rw-book-cover](https://a0.awsstatic.com/libra-css/images/logos/aws_logo_smile_1200x630.png) ## Metadata - Author: [[aws.amazon.com]] - Full Title: Online Analytical Processing Explained - Category: #articles - Summary: Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems manage multidimensional data to analyze information across multiple categories, like product type, location, and time. They use a data warehouse to collect and prepare this data, along with ETL tools to format it for analysis. Business analysts then utilize OLAP cubes and tools to explore and gain insights from the data. - URL: https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/olap/ ## Highlights - Online analytical processing (OLAP) systems store multidimensional data by representing information in more than two dimensions, or categories. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr2fxpkhy92kxcds5wxzkx)) - For example, multidimensional data for product sales might consist of the following dimensions: • Product type • Location • Time ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr2thhw4vmrphnsmyw4e03)) - A data warehouse collects information from different sources, including applications, files, and databases. It processes the information using various tools so that the data is ready for analytical purposes. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr3czrgr7wzdhkvgaeek7x)) - For example, the data warehouse might collect information from a relational database that stores data in tables of rows and columns. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr3h242nxesm0r7qsh86zb)) - **ETL tools**  Extract, transform, and load (ETL) tools are database processes that automatically retrieve, change, and prepare the data to a format fit for analytical purposes. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr3vwv5trnzsxdec4s21xg)) - Data warehouses use ETL to convert and standardize information from various sources before making it available to OLAP tools. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr41hrs1y6csakh1xvkzar)) - An OLAP server is the underlying machine that powers the OLAP system. It uses ETL tools to transform information in the relational databases and prepare them for OLAP operations. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr49yz8jdbb9whps1ekz7c)) - An OLAP database is a separate database that connects to the data warehouse. Data engineers sometimes use an OLAP database to prevent the data warehouse from being burdened by OLAP analysis. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr7wrhpp2ntk2d0fkc6krw)) - An OLAP cube, or hypercube, is the term for data cubes in an OLAP system. OLAP cubes are rigid because you can't change the dimensions and underlying data once you model it. For example, if you add the warehouse dimension to a cube with product, location, and time dimensions, you have to remodel the entire cube. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr5z505bez50gmyvvn3ke0)) - Business analysts use OLAP tools to interact with the OLAP cube. They perform operations such as slicing, dicing, and pivoting to gain deeper insights into specific information within the OLAP cube. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jztr84ywgwrva7797zpr7ece))