| SAS/MDDB Server Administrator's Guide |
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) is
a technology used
in creating decision support software that allows application users to quickly
analyze information that has been summarized into multidimensional views and
hierarchies. By summarizing predicted queries into multidimensional views
prior to run time, OLAP tools can provide the benefit of increased performance
over traditional database access tools: a great deal of the complex calculation
that is required to summarize the data is done long before a query is submitted.
In order to fully understand the benefits of OLAP and
the details of its effective implementation, it helps to examine the technology
from two perspectives: (1) from that of the users and (2) from that of the
information technology (IT) administrators who are responsible for OLAP implementation.
The users, typically business managers and analysts, see OLAP as a way to
gain rapid access to business data. They expect that the data will be organized
according to categories that reflect the way in which they think about the
enterprise. For IT administrators, OLAP can present a long list of technical
issues, including concerns about
- storage requirements and associated costs
- client/server
capabilities
- maintenance activities such as update and backup
- performance considerations such as the amount
of time required to build a multidimensional model
- the ability of the OLAP solution to integrate
with current or planned data warehouse strategies and architectures.
The challenge for IT administrators charged with implementing
OLAP is to find a solution that will both supply the functionality that users
expect and address these technical considerations. SAS/MDDB Server
software provides all the functionality expected by those who will use the
system, while meeting all the technical requirements of IT. For users, SAS/MDDB Server
provides fast access to large amounts of shared data through a wealth of OLAP
client capabilities. IT administrators can use SAS/MDDB Server
to implement an OLAP solution that allows them to seamlessly integrate MDDBs
with transactional systems, existing warehouse data, and powerful client applications.
This document details the capabilities and functionality
of the SAS/MDDB Server and explains
how you can implement MDDBs as part of your organization's OLAP solution.
Copyright 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.
