We already shown in a previous article (Power BI – Star schema or single table – SQLBI) how the star schema proves to be the best option when compared with a single table model. Single-table models are the evil: do not be tempted by them, choose a star schema.
In this article, I want to show you an example in the opposite direction. A single table model denormalizes everything in one table, and we already learned that it is bad. But what if we keep a more normalized structure, as it often happens in header/detail models (like orders and order lines)? Is a header/detail model better than a star schema? The quick answer is: “No. Nope. No way. Not at all. Are you kidding me? No.”. Nonetheless, this might be just our personal opinion. The goal of the article is to provide you with some numbers and considerations to prove the previous statement.
Read on and you make the call.