Apparatus and method for data warehousing

A method, comprising:

• extracting data sets from one or more data sources for storage in one or more of a plurality of data warehouses;
• storing a respective replica of a first data set in each data warehouse of a first subset comprising two or more of said plurality of data warehouses;
• and
• allowing a query dependent upon said first data set to be evaluated by one of said first subset of data warehouses before each respective replica of said first data set has been stored to a corresponding data warehouse of said first subset.

A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by a computer system to:

• extract data sets from one or more data sources for storage in one or more of a plurality of data warehouses;
• store a respective replica of a first data set in each of a first subset comprising two or more of said plurality of data warehouses;
• and
• allow a query dependent upon said first data set to be evaluated by one of said first subset of data warehouses before each respective replica of said first data set has been stored to a corresponding data warehouse of said first subset.

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of data warehouses configured to store data sets extracted from one or more data sources;
• and
• a data warehouse manager configured to present said plurality of data warehouses to a client as a single data warehouse, wherein location of said data sets within said plurality of data warehouses is transparent to said client;
• wherein at a given time, a first data set stored by a first one of said plurality of data warehouses and available at said given time to said client for querying is dissimilar to a second data set stored by a second one of said plurality of data warehouses and available at said given time to said client for querying;
• and
• wherein, in response to receiving from said client a query directed to a data set stored by one or more of said plurality of data warehouses, said data warehouse manager is further configured to identify a particular one of said plurality of data warehouses capable of evaluating said query and to convey said query to said particular data warehouse for evaluation.

A method, comprising:

• extracting data sets from one or more data sources for storage in one or more of a plurality of data warehouses;
• presenting said plurality of data warehouses to a client as a single data warehouse, wherein location of said data sets within said plurality of data warehouses is transparent to said client;
• and
• in response to receiving from said client a query directed to a data set stored by one or more of said plurality of data warehouses, identifying a particular one of said plurality of data warehouses capable of evaluating said query and conveying said query to said particular data warehouse for evaluation;
• wherein at a given time, a first data set stored by a first one of said plurality of data warehouses and available at said given time to said client for querying is dissimilar to a second data set stored by a second one of said plurality of data warehouses and available at said given time to said client for querying.

A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to:

• extract data sets from one or more data sources for storage in one or more of a plurality of data warehouses;
• present said plurality of data warehouses to a client as a single data warehouse, wherein location of said data sets within said plurality of data warehouses is transparent to said client;
• and
• in response to receiving from said client a query directed to a data set stored by one or more of said plurality of data warehouses, to identify a particular one of said plurality of data warehouses capable of evaluating said query and to convey said query to said particular data warehouse for evaluation;
• wherein at a given time, a first data set stored by a first one of said plurality of data warehouses and available at said given time to said client for querying is dissimilar to a second data set stored by a second one of said plurality of data warehouses and available at said given time to said client for querying.

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of data warehouses;
• a data warehouse manager configured to extract data sets from one or more data sources for storage in one or more of said plurality of data warehouses;
• and
• an operations database configured to interact with said data warehouse manager and to store data warehouse state information associated with said data sets;
• wherein, in response to receiving from a given one of a plurality of clients a query directed to a data set stored by one or more of said plurality of data warehouses, said data warehouse manager is further configured to identify a particular one of said plurality of data warehouses capable of evaluating said query and to convey said query to said particular data warehouse for evaluation, wherein said identifying is dependent upon said data warehouse state information.