Snowflake Schema

A snowflake schema is a dimensional model in which dimension tables are normalized into multiple related sub-tables — product splitting into category and brand tables, geography into city, region, and country. The branching shape gives it the name.

The entire difference from a star schema is that one decision: normalized versus flat dimensions. Snowflaking saves some storage and centralises repeated attribute values, but every level adds a join to every query that touches it. On modern columnar warehouses, where compression makes the storage saving negligible, the star’s simplicity usually wins; snowflake a dimension only when you can name the specific problem it solves.

Go deeper: Star Schema vs Snowflake Schema: Which to Use and When