Professional SQL Server™ Analysis Services 2005 with MDX

2.1. Differences between Analysis Services 2000 and Analysis Services 2005

Analysis Services 2005 is not just an evolutionary step up from Analysis Services 2000, but a quantum leap forward in functionality, scalability, and manageability. Relational databases provide a simple, flexible, manageable schema; they provide access of data to the end user easily congealed into information-rich reports. On the other hand, OLAP databases are typically used for high-end performance by the user who needs rich analytics and exploration capabilities. Analysis Services 2005 merges the capabilities of relational and OLAP worlds, thereby providing a unified view of the data to the end user. This unified model is called the Unified Dimensional Model (UDM). In sum, Analysis Services 2005 is a powerful, enterprise-class product and one that you can use to build large-scale OLAP databases and implement strategic business analysis against those databases. You learn more about the UDM and the advanced analytics capabilities of Analysis Services 2005 in chapters 6, 9 and 18. This chapter gives you hands-on experience with both the development and management tools environments.

2.1.1. Development, Administrative, and Client Tools

If you have used Analysis Services 2000, you have used the Analysis Manager. The Analysis Manager, which is shipped with that version, is implemented as a snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The Analysis Manager is a development environment for building Analysis ...