Or How I Learned to Love the Cube…

Alexander P. Nykolaiszyn BLOG: SSAS Primer for the DBA 2

 Who is this Course for…  Before We Discuss SSAS  The Data warehouse  The Analysis Services Cube  Parts of the Cube  Bringing it Together  Answering Questions with a SSAS SSAS Primer for the DBA 3

OLTP OLTP, is a class of information systems that facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval transaction processing. In Short: Fast for transaction processing and slow for analysis and reporting. OLAP OLAP databases use a multidimensional data model, allowing for complex analytical and ad hoc queries with a rapid execution time. In Short: Fast for reports and analysis and slow for transaction processing. SSAS Primer for the DBA 4

A data warehouse is a system used for reporting and data analysis to make informed business decisions. SSAS Primer for the DBA 5

Sales Facts and/or Measures Date Customer Dimension Employee Product SSAS Primer for the DBA 6

Sales Facts and/or Measures Date Customer Dimension Employee Product Colors Region SSAS Primer for the DBA 7

Consolidated Data Warehouse Data Mart SSAS Primer for the DBA 8

The Data Warehouse Environment DM SSAS Primer for the DBA 9

As defined cube is a set of related measures and dimensions that is used to analyze data. Essentially it is a block of answers for all potential combinations of the data put into it. SSAS Primer for the DBA 10

Date Customer Product Customer 1 Customer 2 Product 1 SSAS Primer for the DBA 11

12 FACT DIM FACT DATA FACT TAB DAX Calculations SSAS Primer for the DBA

13 The subject that is measured by Sales Cost Occurrences Etc…

SSAS Primer for the DBA 14 The clues that are searched by. Date Geography Style Etc…

SSAS Primer for the DBA 15 Breaks Large sets of data into chunks Organizes it Indexes it for easy access

SSAS Primer for the DBA 16 Role Based Can be an Individual or Groups Cumulative

SCOPECalculations SSAS Primer for the DBA 17

SSAS Primer for the DBA 18 Uses DAX Similar EXCEL Can Calculate Across Tabs Can Calculate new Columns Can Calculate to Tabs with no Defined Relationship

SSAS Primer for the DBA 19 Multidimensional MOLAP HOLAP ROLAP TABULAR In Memory Direct Query

SSAS Primer for the DBA 20 MDX is a query language for OLAP databases, much like SQL is a query language for relational databases. It is also a calculation language, with syntax similar to spreadsheet formulas. Or… Use Many of the Drag and Drop Tools that connect to OLAP Cubes.

SSAS Primer for the DBA 21 Data Analysis Expressions, or DAX, is the native formula and query language for Microsoft PowerPivot and SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular models. DAX includes some of the functions that are used in Excel formulas, and additional functions that are designed to work with relational data and perform dynamic aggregation. Or… Use Many of the Drag and Drop Tools that connect to TABULAR Cubes.

 Duplicate Key Errors…  Key Not Found…  Column Name Not Found… SSAS Primer for the DBA 22

 Indexes…  Foreign Key Constraints…  Solve for Nulls…  Flatten Large Hierarchies…  Consolidate Logic from views into ETL…  Use Tables over Views… SSAS Primer for the DBA 23

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Alexander P. Nykolaiszyn BLOG: SSAS Primer for the DBA 25