OLAP vs OLTP

 OLTP(Online Transaction Processing):-

Online transaction processing shortly known as OLTP supports transaction-oriented applications in a 3-tier architecture. 

OLTP administers day to day transaction of an organization.

It refers to a class of systems that facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval. 

OLTP systems are designed to handle a large number of short online transactions in real-time. These transactions could include inserting, updating, or deleting small amounts of data in a database, such as recording sales transactions in a retail environment or processing banking transactions. 

OLTP systems are commonly used in various industries, including retail, banking, e-commerce, and telecommunications, where real-time transaction processing is essential for business operations.

OLAP(Online Analytical Processing):-

Online Analytical Processing, a category of software tools which provide analysis of data for business decisions. 

OLAP systems allow users to analyze database information from multiple database systems at one time.

It refers to a category of software tools and technologies used for analyzing data to support decision-making processes. 

Unlike OLTP systems, which focus on transaction processing and real-time data manipulation, OLAP systems are optimized for complex queries and multidimensional analysis of historical data.

OLAP systems are commonly used in business intelligence (BI), data warehousing, financial analysis, sales forecasting, and other decision support applications where complex analysis of historical data is required to drive strategic decision-making processes. 

They complement OLTP systems by providing a platform for in-depth analysis and reporting on the data collected and processed by OLTP systems.

OLTP vs OLAP

Parameters	OLTP	OLAP
Process	It is an online transactional system. It manages database modification.	OLAP is an online analysis and data retrieving process.
Characteristics	It is characterized by large number of short online transactions.	It is characterized by a large volume of data.
Functionality	OLTP is an online database modifying system.	OLAP is an online database query management system.
Method	Uses traditional database.	Used data warehouse.
Table	Tables here are normalized.	Tables here are not normalized.
Query	Queries are standardized and simple.	Complex queries involving aggregations.
Source	OLTP and its transactions are the sources of data.	Different OLTP databases become the source of data for OLAP.
Data integrity	OLTP database must maintain data integrity constraint.	OLAP database does not get frequently modified. Hence, data integrity is not an issue.
Response time	Its response time is in millisecond.	Response time in seconds to minutes.
Data quality	Data is always detailed and organized.	Data might not be organized.
Usefulness	It helps in control and run fundamental business tasks.	It helps with planning, problem solving and decision support.
Operation	Allow read / write operations.	Only read and very rarely write.
Audience	It is a market orientated process.	It is a customer orientated process.
Backup	Complete backup of the data combined with incremental backups.	OLAP only need a backup from time to time. Backup is not important compared to OLTP.
Design	Design is application oriented.	Design is application oriented.
User type	Used by data critical users.	Used by data knowledge users.
Purpose	Designed for real time business operations.	Designed for analysis of business measures by category and attributes.
Performance metric	Transaction throughout is the performance metric.	Query throughput is the performance metric.
Number of users	Allows thousands of users.	Allows hundreds of users.
Productivity	Helps to increase users self service and productivity.	Helps to increase productivity of the business analysts.
Result	Provides fast result for daily used data.	Ensures that response is quicker consistently.

Benefits and Drawbacks of OLTP and OLAP

Benefit of OLTP:-

• It administers daily transactions of an organization.
• OLTP widens the customer base of an organization by simplifying individual processes.

Drawback of OLTP:-

• If OLTP system faces hardware failures, then online transactions get severely affected.
• OLTP systems allow multiple users to access and change the same data at the same time which many times created unprecedented situation.

Benefit of OLAP:-

• OLAP creates a single platform for all type of business analytical needs which includes planning, budgeting, forecasting, and analysis.
• The main benefit of OLAP is the consistency of information and calculations.
• Easily apply security restrictions on users and objects to comply with regulations and protect sensitive data.

Drawback of OLAP:-

• Implementation and maintenance are dependent on IT professional because the traditional OLAP tools require a complicated modeling procedure.
• OLAP tools need cooperation between people of various departments to be effective which might always be not possible.