Customer Reviews

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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".

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.

The book is not meant for beginners, but, doesn't expect the reader to be an expert on OLAP either. Some introductory knowledge of OLAP would be enough to derive a great deal of benefit from this book. Most books on Analysis services deal with the user facing aspects of it - MDX or database modelling. This is the only book that covers the storage engine of Analysis Services and not just covers it - offers a great deal of detail in a way that is easily understood. This is not to say that query evaluation through MDX is given a short shrift. Both aspects of Analysis services are covered in a very detailed fashion. No other book talks about the implementation of processing algorithms, memory management, query evaluation and the like in such a clear and in depth fashion. Topics like Distinct count and Many to Many dimensions that many implementations stumble over are explained well. The book will pay for itself over and over again when you have to implement Analysis Services. It should really have been called Inside Microsoft Analysis Services 2005.

My title says it all: if you want a nuts and bolts book about Analysis Services and MDX, this is the book for you. If you want to know how to implement OLAP from a higher level, their are other books I recommend (Mundy and Thornwaite, for example). So far I haven't found a book that explains what goes on under the hood as well as this one, but then these guys invented it.

However, if you have specific implementation problem, there are really no solution short cuts in the book. On the other hand, you can probably figure out if you will be able to solve it by digging into the specifics of Analysis Services implementation.

I agree with a previous reviewer that you should not use this book to learn Analysis Services. Read another book for that, then come to this book if you need a more in depth theoretical understanding of the product.

However I have to emphasize that the book is a very difficult read. I don't know how to say it better than that - it requires intense concentration to try and read through it and understand, and even then it's not easy. I would have preferred more clear examples that explained what they're talking about.

I can't recommend this book simply due to the difficulty of reading it. It should have been written in a more accessible, clearer way. I believe only the most determined readers will complete the book.

Again it does have some excellent in depth information on the product and why it was designed as it was, and gives a different perspective on everything which is indeed valuable - it's just hard to read, which in my opinion is a huge flaw.

I have been developing OLAP AS/MSAS solutions for companies for more then 7 years. I would give 5 stars for book not because it is the ONLY BOOK for MSAS 2005 and it coveres every aspect of THE TOOL (MSAS) in a very simple and understandable language but also because it's content is very well cataloged to understand MSAS Engine. However, if you are looking for a book on MDX(es) you might consider to go to MOsha Pasumansky's website http://www.mosha.com/msolap/ and his book for MDX developers.I also found this book as unique on examples how to code with XMLA scripts in MSAS. I would like to see more examples for coding with AMO objects but think that might be overkill for the book as it could of be a separate book itself. I would Recommend this book as a 'MUST' to read for Database Analysts and Developers who are Designing and Developing Reports/DW with MSAS cubes. The book has started to serving me as a 'wizard' to understand the best practices to design and develop OLAP cubes with MSAS 2005.

If you're serious about using Analysis Services this book is a must have. No other book gives you as much detail about inner workings of MSAS 2005, period. Anything less than 5 stars would be unfair. Nor can we expect anyone to know MSAS better than the people who wrote it.

Having said that, however, you should keep the following in mind:

1. This book is not for beginners. If you need MSAS "click here" type of book, look elsewhere. I really wish this book had been condensed a bit so it would be more focused on advanced material. My guess is that the authors were trying to capture a wider audience. If you're just now trying to build your first cube, come back to this book in 6 months.

2. Although the book gives a great deal of detail about the inner workings of MSAS it does NOT tell you exact steps for tuning your solutions. There is a severe shortage of case studies documenting how you can tune / scale MSAS applications. For now we're limited to performance guides and white papers which are typically shallow and too general. Unfortunately this book does not fill the void. Much like knowing the structure of system tables won't make you a great SQL DBA, knowledge of MSAS storage structures doesn't immediately help with building great solutions. However, the knowledge of internals does help you wrap your brain around how the product works.

3. The writing is sometimes hard to follow. This is not a novel you should be reading before falling asleep, so let's not be too picky. For the next edition it probably wouldn't hurt to have more professional writers on the team.

4. This is not an MDX book. There are several chapters on MDX, but I'd recommend scanning through these relatively quickly. There is still not a book that measures up to MDX Solutions (Spofford, et al). Will there ever be one?

5. This book is written by developers. They tell you how the product is supposed to work. Sometimes you might find that the product doesn't work the way it's supposed to. If so, be sure to report bugs to MSFT.

Even with the points above, I highly recommend this book.

I came from the world of Hyperion Essbase and decided to switch to Microsoft SQL Server Analysis services. The SQL server books online seemed to be lacking in some details (or examples) and other SSAS printed books seem to be more of the beginner level books or step by step tutorial books. They are good to start with but not deep enough. If you are just starting in the BI and OLAP world, get those books first.

This book is not a general BI book and is more specific to SSAS details. Because of my prior understanding of of data warehousing and OLAP, I was able to build SSAS cubes in no time but there were some lingering questions on how do I do this in SSAS (compared to doing it in Essbase) and other low level details. This is the only SSAS book that I found so far that goes into enough details of SSAS that no other book goes into.

If you are just starting with Microsoft BI and need to learn the concepts of data warehousing (star and snowflake schema), OLAP, ETL and SSIS, get one of the other books first. Then do the SSAS books online tutorials. Once you are ready to dig deeper into SSAS and build enterprise class analysis services cubes, this book would be a great help.

Here is a quote from Nigel Pendse of The OLAP Report in the foreword of this book:
"This book is not intended to teach new users how to use Analysis Services 2005; it is for technically competent implementers who want to make the most of Analysis Services by understanding how it really works..."

OK here is an example of smart, comprehensive, hard working people writing a book that unfortunately takes far too much will power to try to learn from. It's the kind of book you can understand only if you already know most of it before you read it. So it's really reference review material. As an author I know they worked hard and put much of their lives into it. It makes a good reference book I will give it three stars. Great reference, not a good learning tool. Sorry.