How granularity affects the size of the database

The granularity of the fact table also determines how much storage space the database requires.

For example, consider the following possible granularities for a fact table:
  • Product by day by region
  • Product by month by region

The size of a database that has a granularity of product by day by region would be much greater than a database with a granularity of product by month by region. The database contains records for every transaction made each day as opposed to a monthly summation of the transactions. You must carefully determine the granularity of your fact table because too fine a granularity could result in an astronomically large database. Conversely, too coarse a granularity could mean the data is not detailed enough for users to perform meaningful queries against the database.