In data modeling, which statement best describes Data Vault's treatment of historical relationships?

In data modeling, which statement best describes Data Vault's treatment of historical relationships?

• A. Surrogate keys only
• B. 3NF with surrogate keys
• C. Data Vault merges hubs and links to minimize history
• D. Data Vault separates hubs/links/satellites to capture historical relationships

Answer: (D)

Data Vault preserves history by keeping structural elements separate from descriptive history. Hubs hold unique business keys and remain stable; links connect those keys to model relationships between hubs; satellites store the descriptive attributes and their evolving values over time. Because every change is captured as new satellite data (often with load and validity timestamps) rather than overwriting existing rows, you can trace exactly how relationships and their attributes looked at any point in the past. This separation—hubs for the core entities, links for their connections, and satellites for the changing details—allows complete historical reconstruction of relationships, rather than trying to compress history into a single merged structure.

Data Vault preserves history by keeping structural elements separate from descriptive history. Hubs hold unique business keys and remain stable; links connect those keys to model relationships between hubs; satellites store the descriptive attributes and their evolving values over time. Because every change is captured as new satellite data (often with load and validity timestamps) rather than overwriting existing rows, you can trace exactly how relationships and their attributes looked at any point in the past. This separation—hubs for the core entities, links for their connections, and satellites for the changing details—allows complete historical reconstruction of relationships, rather than trying to compress history into a single merged structure.