What is the difference between OLTP and OLAP?
Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) is a form of data storage and processing where a large number of micro, concurrent transactions are executed and stored. OLTP is used in storing financial transactions,
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- MongoDB
- Neo4j
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), on the other hand, is a form of data storage and processing that stores historical data to be used for analysis. OLAP focuses on querying records stored in data storage locations like Data Warehouses and Data Lakes. These records often originate from OLTP systems. OLAP systems are used for preparing financial reports, forecasting, etc. Examples of OLAP systems include:
- Snowflake
- Essbase
- Google Big Query
Below is a tabular comparison of OLTP and OLAP.
Tabular comparison between OLTP and OLAP
Basis | OLTP | OLAP |
Focus | An insertion focused system | A query focused system |
Nature of workload | Processes a large number of small records | Processes a few big queries |
Normalization | OLTP data is normalized to reduce repetition | OLAP systems don't normalize data to improve query performance and reduce query time |
Query time | Queries in OLTP systems are usually simple and take less time to execute | Queries in OLAP systems are more involved because OLAP systems are focused on querying. These queries also take longer to execute |
Transaction integrity | Transactions may fail, in which case, it is the responsibility of the OLTP system to ensure data integrity and consistency | Transactions in OLAP systems may fail without causing issues since they are mainly read-only queries |
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Osinachi Chukwujama