SQLBits 2012

Loading Data Warehouse Dimensions in SSIS

This session looks at some of the different methods available to load slowly changing dimension data into a data warehouse, and compares the relative performance given different data scenarios and traditional storage compared with FusionIO
There are many different ways of using SSIS to load dimension data into a data warehouse. For small data volumes the method may not have much impact on the performance, but for high volumes making the right choice could be critical.

This session looks at some of the different methods available to load type 2 slowly changing dimension data into a data warehouse, including using T-SQL Merge, and compares the relative performance of these methods given different volumes of data.

We’ll also look at the impact of different storage solutions, comparing the performance difference of using FusionIO compared to traditional disks. Does the hardware platform change the design approach?

This session presents the results from my MSc dissertation investigating Type 2 SCD performance.