A data warehouse uses a multi-dimensional data model to consolidate data from multiple sources and support analysis. It uses a star schema with fact and dimension tables or a snowflake schema that normalizes dimensions. This allows for interactive exploration of data through OLAP operations like roll-up, drill-down, slice and dice to gain business insights. The document provides an overview of data warehousing concepts like schemas, cubes, measures and hierarchies to model and analyze historical data for decision making.