Database structure for storing historical data

Question

Preface: I was thinking the other day about a new database structure for a new application and realized that we needed a way to store historical data in an efficient way. I

Answer 1

What you want is called a datawarehouse. Since datawarehouses are OLAP and not OLTP, it is recommended to have as many columns as you need in order to achieve your goals. In your case the orders table in the datawarehouse will have 11 fields as having a 'snapshot' of orders as they come, regardless of users accounts updates.

Wiley -The Data Warehouse Toolkit, Second Edition

It's a good start.