Yes, an edw database should be primarily used for reporting, analytics and historical analysis, not for day-to-day transactions. Typical operational databases are designed to insert or modify individual records often. An enterprise warehouse, however, integrates data from various sources and is designed to be used by complex queries and/or business intelligence applications. This difference allows analysts to analyze large amounts of data without stressing the operating systems. The architecture that is used should be based on business requirements like data volume, reporting needs, integration requirements, performance expectations, and business goals.