Tying Together Olap, Datawarehouses, Datamarts, and 3-Tier Architecture

Write a short paper explaining OLAP, Data Warehouse and Data Mart, and Three-tier architecture.

OLAP

I read several articles before I completely understood what OLAP really meant. First, I found a definition that sounded fairly simple at this address on the web, http://www.bitpipe.com/tlist/OLAP.html. “Database software that provides an interface so users can transform or limit raw data quickly and interactively examine the results in various dimensions of the data”. But then it went on to say “Also called: Online Analytical Processing, OLAP Cube, On-line Analytical Processing Software, Multidimensional Online Analytical Processing, MOLAP, Multidimensional OLAP, and Online Analytical Processing Software”. Well this was not simple! I assumed this to mean that OLAP could be defined in many different ways, by many different vendors. So I read a couple of White Papers, perused a few others and realized they were all trying to sell their OLAP tools. Then I decided to go to my favorite