 Database link load - loaded from another database

 Externally loaded - the load table is populated by some external process, e.g. an ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) tool or EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) tool, putting the data directly into the load tables.

 ODBC based load - the data is loaded via an ODBC connection, either directly by reading and inserting each row (a Load Type of ODBC load), or via a file by reading from the source system using ODBC and writing to a file and then loading the file (a Load Type of Native ODBC). ODBC connections require a Windows scheduler.

 File load - a flat file load where most of the processing is managed and controlled by the scheduler.

 Script-based load - a flat file load where a host system, i.e. UNIX or Windows script file is executed to perform the load.

 XML file load - loading an XML file from a Windows directory.

 Source and target database types

 Locations of source and target databases

 Available connectivity options and performance

 Amount of data being loaded

 Is the data delivered or fetched?

 For delivered data, what format is it in and does it require processing to make it loadable?