Ratio-Based Gradual Aggregation of Data

Majority of databases contain large amounts of data, gathered over long intervals of time. In most cases, the data is aggregated so that it can be used for analysis and reporting purposes. The other reason of data aggregation is to reduce data volume in order to avoid over-sized databases that may cause data management and data storage issues. However, non-flexible and ineffective means of data aggregation not only reduce performance of database queries but also lead to erroneous reporting. This paper presents flexible and effective ratio-based methods for gradual data aggregation in databases. Gradual data aggregation is a process that reduces data volume by converting the detailed data into multiple levels of summarized data as the data gets older. This paper also describes implementation strategies of the proposed methods based on standard database technology.