Operational System
Operational systems consist of the backend services and data infrastructure where data is created, for example by serving external users. Here, the application code both reads and modifies the data in its databases, based on the actions performed by the users.
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Analytical system
Analytical systems serve the needs of business analysts and data scientists. They contain a read-only copy of the data from the operational systems, and they are optimized for the types of data processing that are needed for analytics.
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>Table 1-1. Comparing characteristics of operational and analytic systems
| Property | Operational systems (OLTP) | Analytical systems (OLAP) |
|---|---|---|
| Main read pattern | Point queries (fetch individual records by key) | Aggregate over large number of records |
| Main write pattern | Create, update, and delete individual records | Bulk import (ETL) or event stream |
| Human user example | End user of web/mobile application | Internal analyst, for decision support |
| Machine use example | Checking if an action is authorized | Detecting fraud/abuse patterns |
| Type of queries | Fixed set of queries, predefined by application | Analyst can make arbitrary queries |
| Data represents | Latest state of data (current point in time) | History of events that happened over time |
| Dataset size | Gigabytes to terabytes | Terabytes to petabytes |