Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SQL Server Series) (Paperback)

by Edward Melomed (Author), Irina Gorbach (Author), Alexander Berger (Author), Py Bateman (Author)
Key Phrases: object bindings, hash key, missing member, Analysis Services, Dev Studio, Store Sales (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services provides fast access to data by means of multidimensional data structures and the multidimensional query languag MDX. Analysis Services provides the capability to design, create, and manage multidimensional cubes based on data warehouse tables, and it serves as the foundation for the Microsoft  Business Intelligence strategy.

 

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services gives the reader insight into the way Analysis Services functions. It not only explains ways to design and create multidimensional objects, databases, dimensions, and cubes, but also provides invaluable information about the reasons behind design decisions made by the development team. 

 

Here's what you will find inside:

• Understand the key concepts of multidimensional modeling
• Explore the multidimensional object model and its definition language
• Learn the main concepts of the MDX language and gain an in-depth understanding of advanced MDX concepts
• Understand the mechanisms of integrating multidimensional and relational databases
• Learn how to build client applications to access data in Analysis Services
• Examine server architecture, including main data structures, data processing, and query resolution algorithms
• Gain a deep understanding of the internal and external protocols for data transfer, including the XML/A protocol
• Explore how Analysis Services manages memory
• Explore the security model, including role-based security, code-access security, and data security
• Discover how to monitor and manage Analysis Services

All the code for the sample database used in the book can be found at www.informit.com/title/0672327821.

About the Author

Edward Melomed is one of the original members of the Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services team. He arrived in Redmond as a part of Microsoft's acquisition of Panorama Software Systems, Inc., which led to the technology that gave rise to Analysis Services 2005. He works as a program manager and plays a major role in the infrastructure design for the Analysis Services engine.

 

Irina Gorbach is a senior software designer on the Analysis Services team, which she joined soon after its creation nine years ago. During her time at Microsoft, Irina has designed and developed many features, was responsible for client subsystems OLEDB and ADOMD.NET, and was in the original group of architects that designed the XML for Analysis specification. Recently she has been working on the architecture and design of calculation algorithms.

 

Alexander Berger was one of the first developers to work on OLAP systems at Panorama. After it was acquired by Microsoft, he led the development of Microsoft OLAP Server through all its major releases. He is one of the architects of OLEDB for the OLAP standard and MDX language, and holds more than 30 patents in the area of multidimensional databases.

 

Py Bateman is a technical writer at Microsoft. She originally hails from Texas, which was considered a separate country on the multinational Analysis Services team.

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1 edition (December 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672327821
• ISBN-13: 978-0672327827
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book, October 24, 2007

By	aquarist (Mountain View, CA) - See all my reviews

Don't use this book to learn Analysis Services. Use this book as a reference after you have already learned Analysis Services from other books such as the ones by Teo Lachev or Reed Jacobson. This book doesn't even attempt to explain what a Dimension is, what an Attribute is etc. Instead it gives you DDL (XML) dumps for those things. Concepts are not explained using examples. I still gave it 2 stars because it has some programming info that other books do not have, and is good as a reference book for Analysis Services experts.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Key for Deep Divers , January 14, 2007

By	Ning Zhu - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been architecting BI solutions for large enterprise customers for past 7 years and one of the biggest challenges is trying to optimize the processing performance without enough knowledge about how the OLAP engine works under the hood.
This is the 1st book which not only covers all the spectrums of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services but also reveals how the core OLAP engine handles various tasks such as creating execution plan for cube processing; coordinating thread pools; handling dependencies;... It also describes each processing job's features (like whether it's a single- or multi- threaded task; how resource intensive it is;...) in great details.
If you are interested in the OLAP physical storage (for example, how different types of data are stored and compressed; how the bitmap index is created and optimized; how the hash table is constructed to enable fast access; what the file extension .ahstore\.kstore\.map\... stands for;...), then this is the book for you because the authors are OLAP engine gurus who know the physical structure inside out.
Once equipped with the deep engine knowledge, you would be empowered for a high scalable and performing OLAP solution architecture, design and implementation. It will also help you with the capacity planning to better match the hardware selection with your processing window.
That's why I think this book is "The Key for Deep Divers".

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Analysis Services book! Wonderful book!, January 23, 2007

By	Vladimir Chtepa (Hannover, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The authors unveiled the secrets of Analysis Services internals. The book helps to understand why and how Analysis Services is designed, made, and how it runs. It helps immensely every designer and developer to get all of SSAS power. It describes not only the best practices, but also gives warnings about possible mistakes during cube design, processing and querying.
Despite of its 900 pages, the book is filled with useful information that you don't find anywhere else, neither in MSDN and BOL, nor in other books and blogs.
This book is absolutely not "yet another book about Analysis Services" and dramatically distinguishes itself over Wrox's publications.
By the depth of the material presented, this book can be put in the same category as such wonderful books as Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 by Itzik Ben-Gan and Kalen Delaney.
Analysis Services 2005 is a serious book for serious people, but in no way dry or boring. I swallowed it in few days as a breathtaking adventure.