SQL Server Analysis Services

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Introduction

SQL Server Analysis Services is a platform for enterprise reporting and data analysis needs and provides two core services. On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) designed for storing and retrieving large amounts of data to be used for ad-hoc reporting and analytics, the second core service is Data Mining using models to uncover trends and patterns.

SQL Server is more than just a database it’s a database management system and can be used to manage all your enterprise data requirements, as such there are some key core elements illustrated in the graphic.

First you have the database engine this is the service that lets you create databases store and retrieve your data, this is where most people start when learning SQL Server and the heart of SQL Server. Another piece is Reporting Services the reporting platform used to create reports and tying all this together is Integration Services and used to extract, transform and load data which replaces and enhances SQL Server DTS in earlier versions. Finally we have Analysis Services which provides you the tools for data mining and analytics. You’ll often hear the term Business Intelligence (BI) when referring to some of the features of SQL Server and the BI platform as Microsoft calls it is a cumulative of Analysis Services, Reporting Services and Integration Services seen on the graphic and all of these complement each other building a comprehensive business intelligence solution.

To work with SSAS there are several applications that ship with SQL Server 2005 versions (Standard, Developer or Enterprise) taking in mind certain functions like proactive caching isn’t available in all versions. The development environment for SSAS is the Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) and is also included with SQL Server 2005. You use business intelligence development studio to connect to your databases design your OLAP cubes and deploy your applications. You will also use SQL Server Management Studio to create and manage your databases and too is also included in SQL Server 2005.

To present your data you can use a number of components and mentioned earlier the one that’s included with SQL Server 2005 is SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services but we can also use SharePoint some components of Microsoft Office and even 3rd party applications.