Online Transaction Processing(OLTP) is a transactional processing system that involves processing transactional data and updating a back-end database to reflect the new input. Relational databases(RDMS) are a suitable choice for OLTP since it requires a database that can handle numerous queries and updates while supporting quick response times.
Online Analytical Processing(OLAP) is an analytical processing system that can handle any analytical process. OLAP tools are used to perform complex queries and bring insights from large data sets especially those collected from multiple databases.
Let’s discuss the difference between OLTP and OLAP.
OLTP VS OLAP
| VS | OLTP | OLAP |
| Stands for | Online Transaction Processing | Online Analytical Processing |
| Sources of data | Operational data | Data warehouse(from various databases) |
| Purpose of data | Control and run fundamental business tasks | For planning, problem-solving, and decision support |
| Processing speed | Typically very fast | Depends on data size, techniques, and algorithms |
| Space requirements | Can be a relatively small | Larger due to aggregated databases |
| Database design | Highly normalized with many tables | Typically, denormalized with fewer tables. Use of star or snowflake schemas |
| Operation | Use insert, update, and delete operations | Use select operations |
| User | Used by the database administrator, and other database professionals | Used by managers and data analysts |
| Queries | QUEL, SQL, QBE | XMLA, XQuery, MDX |
| Data | The OLTP database always contains comprehensive and well-organized data | The OLAP method may use unorganized data |
| Queries | Simple queries | Complex queries and algorithms |
