Best Practice: Federate Versus Integrate Data
An important strategic decision when modeling your data is when to federate different data sources versus integrating, that is, physically consolidating, the data.
The following table provides suggestions for helping you make this decision.
| If the data Complexity is... |
and its Volume is... |
and the Policies are... |
then the suggested Integration Strategy is: |
|---|---|---|---|
| The target format is a simple source, such as a single table. | The data set is large however the size of typical query request is reasonable. | Business policies do not allow data replication or consolidation. | Federation:
Use the Birst data store federated with Birst Live Access. |
| The target format is either a simple source or a star schema. | Typical query requests require reading a large volume of data. | Replication is allowed. | Physical consolidation:
Bring all sources into the Birst data store. |
| The target format is a star schema. | Typical query requests require reading a large volume of data. | Business policies do not allow data replication or consolidation. | Physical consolidation:
Co-locate the Birst Appliance data store and Live Access source. Depending on your requirements there are various database options for persisting the Birst data store. |