Refreshing the FACT Tables

Rather than having to aggregate the data in real-time from the full set of data that may span multiple tables, "fact tables" are used to store daily pre-aggregated measurements, such as a daily record of “bytes transferred” for each user. These tables can alleviate load on the database server when running queries that are based off of these facts, as the reporting engine only needs to query sets of pre-aggregated data from an existing set of facts, resulting in lightning-fast reports.

By default, EFT will regularly update the fact tables so that EFT's analytics front end is always current.

The Refresh fact tables feature is only available if the ARM database is managed via SQL server; it is not available with an Oracle ARM database.

When the Refresh statistical fact tables daily check box is selected, EFT will refresh the fact table. Clear the check box if you do not want to refresh the fact tables.

• EFT will run the initial fact table creation stored procedures during installation, unless those tables already exist, in which case EFT will back-fill the fact tables with historical data.

• Fact table refreshes can severely affect database performance for a few minutes to several hours, depending on the volume of data audited since the last refresh.

• EFT will update the fact tables as part of its hard-coded nightly cleanup routine (at midnight).

• Using a SQLite databases viewer, in the ServerConfig.db, you can verify the ARM configuration data. In this you will find the RefreshFactTables value (true or false).

• When creating and configuring an EFT server administrative connection, the Refresh statistical fact tables daily check box is selected by default.