Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Bible

Chapter 71. Building Multidimensional Cubes with Analysis Services

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Concepts and terminology of Analysis Services

• How to build up the components of a multidimensional database

• Detailed exploration of dimensions and cubes

• Dimension checklist

• Configuring database storage and partitions

• Designing aggregations to increase query speed

• Configuring data integrity options

A naïve view of Analysis Services would be that it is the same data used in relational databases with a slightly different format. Why bother? One could get by with data relational format only, without needing new technology. One can build a house with only a handsaw as well—it is all about the right tool for the job.

Analysis Services is fast. It serves up summaries of billions of rows in a second—a task that would take relational queries several minutes or longer. And unlike creating summary tables in a relational database, you don't need to create a different data structure for each type of summary.

Analysis Services is all about simple access to clean, consistent data. Building a database in Analysis Services eliminates the need for joins and other query-time constructs requiring intimate knowledge of the underlying data structures. The data modeling tools provide methods to handle null and inconsistent data. Complex calculations, even those involving period over period comparisons, can be easily constructed and made to look like just another item available for query to the user.

Analysis Services also provides ...