OLTP (online transaction processing) is a class of program that facilitates and

managestransaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval

transactions in a number of industries, including banking, airlines, mailorder,
supermarkets, and manufacturers. Probably the most widely installed OLTP
product is IBM's CICS (Customer Information Control System).
Today's online transaction processing increasingly requires support for transactions
that span a network and may include more than one company. For this reason, new
OLTP software uses client/server processing and brokering software that allows
transactions to run on different computer platforms in a network.

Requirements
Online transaction processing increasingly requires support for transactions that span a network and
may include more than one company. For this reason, new online transaction processing software
uses client or server processing and brokering software that allows transactions to run on different
computer platforms in a network.

In large applications, efficient OLTP may depend on sophisticated transaction management software
(such as CICS) and/or database optimization tactics to facilitate the processing of large numbers of
concurrent updates to an OLTP-oriented database.

For even more demanding Decentralized database systems, OLTP brokering programs can distribute
transaction processing among multiple computers on a network. OLTP is often integrated intoservice-
oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services.

[edit]Benefits

Online Transaction Processing has two key benefits: simplicity and efficiency. Reduced paper trails
and the faster, more accurate forecasts for revenues and expenses are both examples of how OLTP
makes things simpler for businesses.

[edit]Disadvantages

As with any information processing system, security and reliability are considerations. Online
transaction systems are generally more susceptible to direct attack and abuse than their offline
counterparts. When organizations choose to rely on OLTP, operations can be severely impacted if the
transaction system or database is unavailable due to data corruption, systems failure, or network
availability issues. Additionally, like many modern online information technology solutions, some
systems require offline maintenance which further affects the cost-benefit analysis.
Answered by swetha on 2005-03-30 12:00:33:  OLTP 

 
Current data 
Short database transactions 
Online update/insert/delete 
Normalization is promoted 
High volume transactions 
Transaction recovery is necessary 
 
 
OLAP 
Current and historical data 
Long database transactions 
Batch update/insert/delete 
Denormalization is promoted 
Low volume transactions 
Transaction recovery is not necessary 

On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a category of software technology that

enables analysts, managers and executives to gain insight into data through fast,
consistent, interactive access to a wide variety of possible views of information
that has been transformed from raw data to reflect the real dimensionality of the
enterprise as understood by the user.

OLAP functionality is characterized by dynamic multi-dimensional analysis of

consolidated enterprise data supporting end user analytical and navigational
activities including:

 calculations and modeling applied across dimensions,

through hierarchies and/or across members
 trend analysis over sequential time periods
 slicing subsets for on-screen viewing
 drill-down to deeper levels of consolidation
 reach-through to underlying detail data
 rotation to new dimensional comparisons in the viewing area

OLAP is implemented in a multi-user client/server mode and offers consistently

rapid response to queries, regardless of database size and complexity. OLAP helps
the user synthesize enterprise information through comparative, personalized
viewing, as well as through analysis of historical and projected data in various
"what-if" data model scenarios. This is achieved through use of an OLAP Server.

- OLTP (On-line Transaction Processing) is characterized by a large number of

short on-line transactions (INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE). The main emphasis for OLTP
systems is put on very fast query processing, maintaining data integrity in multi-access
environments and an effectiveness measured by number of transactions per second. In
OLTP database there is detailed and current data, and schema used to store
transactional databases is the entity model (usually 3NF). 

- OLAP (On-line Analytical Processing) is characterized by relatively low volume of

transactions. Queries are often very complex and involve aggregations. For OLAP
systems a response time is an effectiveness measure. OLAP applications are widely used
by Data Mining techniques. In OLAP database there is aggregated, historical data,
stored in multi-dimensional schemas (usually star schema). 

The following table summarizes the major differences between OLTP and OLAP system
design.

OLTP System  OLAP System 

Online Transaction Processing  Online Analytical Processing 
(Operational System) (Data Warehouse)
Operational data; OLTPs are the original source Consolidation data; OLAP data comes from
Source of data
of the data. the various OLTP Databases
To help with planning, problem solving, and
Purpose of data To control and run fundamental business tasks
decision support
Reveals a snapshot of Multi-dimensional views of various kinds of
What the data
ongoing business processes business activities
Inserts and Short and fast inserts and updates initiated by Periodic long-running batch jobs refresh the
Updates end users data
Relatively standardized and simple queries
Queries Often complex queries involving aggregations
Returning relatively few records
Depends on the amount of data involved;
batch data refreshes and complex queries
Processing Speed Typically very fast
may take many hours; query speed can be
improved by creating indexes
Larger due to the existence of aggregation
Space Can be relatively small if historical data is
structures and history data; requires more
Requirements archived
indexes than OLTP
Typically de-normalized with fewer tables;
DatabaseDesign Highly normalized with many tables
use of star and/or snowflake schemas
Backup religiously; operational data is critical to Instead of regular backups, some
Backup and
run the business, data loss is likely to entail environments may consider simply reloading
Recovery
significant monetary loss and legal liability the OLTP data as a recovery method
source: www.rainmakerworks.com