Professional SQL Server 7 Data Warehousing with OLAP - Softcover

Youness, Sakhr; Wrox Press

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861002815 ISBN 13: 9781861002815

Publisher: WROX Press Ltd, 2000

Synopsis

With the vast amounts of data flowing through the workplace on a daily basis, data warehouses have evolved to cope with the huge volumes involved by separating the data used for reporting and decision making from the operational systems. Microsoft have entered the world of data warehousing with the introduction of SQL Server 7 and OLAP Services.

The purpose of the data warehouse is simply to store the raw data. The combination of this with OLAP enables the data to be transformed into useful information that reflects the real factors affecting the enterprise. OLAP techniques may range from simple navigation and browsing of the data to more serious analyses, such as time-series and complex modeling.

About this title

Review

Data warehousing has fantastic power, but it requires familiarity with a body of conceptual knowledge as well as an understanding of how your tools implement data warehousing. Professional Data Warehousing with SQL Server 7.0 and OLAP Services covers both bases. It explains data warehousing concepts for the benefit of those who aren't familiar with them, then proceeds to explain how to use Microsoft's data warehousing software. The author knows his subject--he's a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) with lots of database experience--and has a strong technical writing style that's well suited to both practical and theoretical material.

After explaining On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) conceptually, the book delineates the OLAP architecture for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. Its documentation of the OLAP Manager is comprehensive, and leads logically into the discussion of Microsoft Data Transformation Services (DTS) and Multidimensional Expressions (MDX). The coverage of both data-manipulation tools includes conceptual prose and diagrams alongside example code listings. The author's comparison of MDX to advanced Structured Query Language (SQL) queries is enlightening, and his MDX language documentation (in tutorial form and, in an appendix, as a reference) is solid. In all, this is a very competent book that should prove helpful to any database architect planning to implement OLAP and other advanced data analysis systems with Microsoft tools. --David Wall, amazon.com

Topics covered: On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), as it is implemented by Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft's other data tools. The author covers OLAP and data warehousing concepts, design of OLAP cubes, the OLAP Manager, Microsoft Data Transformation Services (DTS), Multidimensional Expressions (MDX), and the PivotTable service. Optimisation and administration of Microsoft data warehouses get attention, too.

From the Publisher

This book discusses the architecture of a data warehouse, and introduces the concept of multidimensional data representation using Microsoft OLAP. Installing OLAP Services and using the OLAP Manager is introduced and the OLAP Services Architecture. Designing Data Warehouses and Data Marts are studied and using Data Transformation Services (DTS) in Data Warehousing. Following on from this, techniques for Data Mining and Analysis as well as securing and administrating a Data Warehouse and OLAP System provide complete discussion of the architecture of a data warehouse. By reading this book you'll learn how best to employ data warehousing and OLAP in your business and how to leverage it to provide your organization with improved revenue and profitability.

Edition details

• Publisher: WROX Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1861002815
• ISBN 13: 9781861002815
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 615