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Quick Start for Implementing Analytic Services


The table in this chapter provides process steps to help you get up and running with Analytic Services. The table also tells you where you can find more information about each step. Unless otherwise specified, the chapters refer to the Essbase Analytic Services Database Administrator's Guide.

Note: The information in this chapter is designed for block storage databases. Some of the information is not relevant to aggregate storage databases. For detailed information on the differences between aggregate and block storage, see Comparison of Aggregate and Block Storage.

Note: This chapter assumes that you are a new Analytic Services user. If you are migrating from a previous version of Analytic Services, see the Essbase Analytic Services Installation Guide for important migration information.


Table 1: A Process Map  

Process Step
Reference

Learn the fundamentals of Analytic Services and distributed OLAP.

Assess your needs and requirements.

Have a clear idea of your data analysis needs and of what types of calculations and reports you want to run.

Your budget, forecasting, and other financial reports with notes on how you want to improve them

Analyze your data from a multidimensional perspective. Consider the following:

  • Where are your data sources?

  • What type is the data? Is it detailed, relational data or is it higher-level, hierarchical data that can be used for analysis?

  • In what format is the data?

  • How will you access the data? If you need to access relational data, you may need SQL Interface or Integration Services (a separately purchasable product).

Install Analytic Services.

Decide what components you want to install. Be aware that the license your company purchased might not include all options.

Essbase Analytic Services Installation Guide

Design your application and database.

  • Identify business and user requirements, including security.

  • Identify source data and determine the scope of the Analytic Services database.

  • Choose whether to leave lowest-level member data in a relational database and access with Hybrid Analysis, or to load all data.

  • Define standard dimensions and designate sparse and dense storage.

  • Identify any need for attribute dimensions.

  • Identify any need for currency conversion applications that track data in different currencies.

  • Define calculations needed for outline dimensions and members.

  • Identify any need to monitor data changes in the database. You monitor data changes using the Analytic Services triggers feature (licensed separately).

Case Study: Designing a Single-Server, Multidimensional Database

Estimate the size of your database, check disk space, and ensure that the sizes of the index, data files, and data caches in memory are adequate.

Limits

Create an application and a database.

Creating Applications and Databases

Design a currency application.

Designing and Building Currency Conversion Applications

Build an outline for your database.

Creating and Changing Database Outlines

Assign alias names to your members.

Setting Dimension and Member Properties

Build the dimensions. Decide whether your data loads will introduce new members into the outline. If so, consider dynamically building your dimensions using a rules file and a data source. If not, set up regular data loads.

Load your data. You can load data these ways:

  • Free-form

  • With a rules file

  • With Hybrid Analysis

Calculate your database.

  • Decide on a type of calculation: outline or calculation script, or a combination of both.

  • Ensure that relationships between members and member consolidations in the database outline are correct.

  • Consider whether tagging some members as Dynamic Calc or whether using Intelligent Calculation will improve calculation efficiency.

  • Consider which members you need to tag as two-pass calculation to ensure correct calculation results.

Learn about dynamic calculations and how they can greatly improve performance.

Dynamically Calculating Data Values

View data with Spreadsheet Add-in, other Hyperion tools, or third-party tools.

  • For Spreadsheet Add-in, see the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in User's Guide

  • For other tools, see the documentation for that particular tool

  • For a list of tools, visit the Hyperion site: http://www.hyperion.com

Learn about Partitioning. Think about whether your data can benefit from being decentralized into connected databases.

Link files or cell notes to data cells.

Linking Objects to Analytic Services Data

Copy or export data subsets.

Copying Data Subsets and Exporting Data to Other Programs

Back up and restore your data.

Backing Up and Restoring Data

Allocate storage and specify Analytic Services kernel settings for your database.

  • Data compression: Specify data compression on disk and the compression scheme.

  • Cache sizes: You can specify the index, data file, and data cache sizes. To prevent a slow-down of the operating system, ensure that the sum of index and data cache sizes for all the active databases on the server is not more than two-thirds of the system's RAM.

  • Cache memory locking: You can lock the memory that is used for the index, data file, and data caches into physical memory.

  • Disk volumes: You can specify the storage location of Analytic Services index files and data files, specify the appropriate disk volume names and configuration parameters.

  • Isolation level: Specify either committed access or uncommitted access.

Generate a report.

  • Choose a type of report: structured or free-form.

  • Plan the elements of the report, such as page layout, number of columns, identity of members, format of data values, and content of titles.

  • For a structured report, create page, column, and row headings (unnecessary for a free-form report).

  • Create and test a report script, use Administration Services' Report Script Editor or any other text editor.

  • Save the report on OLAP Server or on a client computer.

Fine-tune your database performance and storage settings.

Automate routine operations by using MaxL or ESSCMD.

Design security for your database.

  • Create a security plan for your environment based on database security needs.

  • Create users and groups and assign them administrative or data-access permissions, if necessary.

  • Define common data access permissions at the scope of the server, applications, databases, or data-cell levels.

  • To define global application or database permissions, select the relevant application or application and database and adjust the settings.

Maintain your applications.

Analyze and improve performance and troubleshoot errors if they occur.

  • Ensure that block size is not excessively large.

  • Set the correct size for the index, data file, data, and calculator caches.

  • Validate the database to ensure data integrity.

  • Consider using partitioning to distribute data across multiple cubes for better scalability and performance.

  • Ensure that disk space is adequate to allow the application to grow over time.

  • Archive data from OLAP Server on a regular basis.

  • Enable logging for spreadsheet update to ensure that log files are updated after archiving.

  • If sorting on retrievals, increase the size of the retrieval sort buffer.




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