Analysis Services

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services delivers online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining functionality for business intelligence applications. Analysis Services supports OLAP by letting you design, create, and manage multidimensional structures that contain data aggregated from other data sources, such as relational databases. For data mining applications, Analysis Services lets you design, create, and visualize data mining models that are constructed from other data sources by using a wide variety of industry-standard data mining algorithms.
Overview of the Analysis Services Development and Management Environments Overview of the Analysis Services Development and Management Environments
SQL Server 2005 introduces a rich set of tools supporting the development and management of Business Intelligence applications using Analysis Services (OLAP and Data Mining), Reporting Services, and Data Transformation Services.

Articles and Columns

Accessing External Data Sources with Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services 2005

See examples of the variety of client object models supported by Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services when connecting to relational data sources. These solutions have been gathered by members of the Analysis Services team while working with users of Analysis Services.

Unearth the New Data Mining Features of Analysis Services 2005
Learn about the new data mining features in Analysis Services 2005, including new and enhanced algorithms, plus more than a dozen added visualizations.
Analysis Services 2005 Processing Architecture
Processing is the operation in which the Analysis server reads data from the relational data source and populates the cubes, dimensions, mining models, etc. This whitepaper describes the Analysis Services 2005 processing architecture in detail and provides guidance on how and when to use the various processing controls.
Handling Data Integrity Issues in Analysis Services 2005
Learn about common data integrity issues, and see how Analysis Services 2005 gives you the tools to handle them.
Enabling Drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005
Discover the new Analysis Services 2005 drillthrough architecture. See how to set up drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005 and get guidance on migrating drillthrough settings from Analysis Services 2000 databases.
Many-to-Many Dimensions in Analysis Services 2005
See an example of using the Many-to-Many dimension in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services to analyze sales data, and get ideas for other uses such as treating medical conditions, software testing, and more.
Introduction to MDX Scripting in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Learn how Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) for SQL Server 2005 can be applied to common business problems.
A Tutorial for Constructing a Plug-in Algorithm
Learn how to create an Analysis Services 2005 plug-in algorithm. This tutorial steps through the process of implementing a plug-in algorithm and integrating that algorithm into Analysis Services. It also provides stub code to enable algorithm developers to quickly integrate a "shell" plug-in algorithm into Analysis Services.
A Tutorial for Constructing a Plug-in Viewer
Step through the process of implementing a plug-in viewer and integrating it into Analysis Services. Get stub code that enables you to quickly write a plug-in viewer into Analysis Services.
Designing SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Cubes for Excel 2007 PivotTables

Download this white paper and learn how to optimize the cube design in SQL Server 2005 in order to take full advantage of the capabilities of Microsoft Office Excel 2007 PivotTable dynamic views.