The database is often arranged and optimized differently than one used to support operations, and a lot of things are often done to make what would otherwise be

The database is often arranged and optimized differently than one used to support operations, and a lot of things are often done to make what would otherwise be long-running, slow queries faster -- e.g., aggregating or otherwise summarizing data likely to be queried in reports. But sure, it's still backed by a database.