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Designing and Implementing OLAP Solutions Using Microsoft SQL Server 2000

Course 2074—Five days—Instructor-led

Introduction

This course provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary to design, implement, and deploy OLAP solutions by using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services.

At Course Completion

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

•	Define the term OLAP and its role within data warehousing.
•	Design multidimensional data marts by using star and snowflake schemas.
•	Recognize the fundamental components of a cube.
•	Understand the architecture of Analysis Services.
•	Create dimensions from relational dimension tables.
•	Understand the many types of dimensions.
•	Utilize various dimension properties and settings.
•	Design OLAP dimensions based on underlying source data.
•	Create cubes by using the Cube Wizard and Cube Editor.
•	Create and manipulate measures.
•	Develop and understand virtual cubes.
•	Design cube storage and aggregations.
•	Update dimensions and cubes when source data changes.
•	Optimize the processing of dimensions and cubes.
•	Create partitions within cubes.
•	Implement simple calculations by using multidimensional expressions (MDX) and calculated members.
•	Use Microsoft Excel 2000 as an OLAP front-end application.
•	Understand how data mining fits within OLAP and the Microsoft data warehousing framework.
•	Employ actions, drillthrough, and writeback for data analysis.
•	Design and implement cube and dimension security.
•	Automate the processing of dimensions and cubes through Data Transformation Services (DTS).
•	Create cubes and virtual cubes based on end-user requirements.

Prerequisites

Before attending this course, students must have:

•	A basic understanding of database design, administration, and implementation concepts.
•	A satisfactory level of comfort within the Microsoft Windows 2000 environment.

Course Outline

Module 1: Introduction to Data Warehousing and OLAP

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introducing Data Warehousing
•	Defining OLAP Solutions
•	Understanding Data Warehouse Design
•	Understanding OLAP Models
•	Applying OLAP Cubes

Module 2: Introducing Analysis Manager Wizards

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Defining Terms
•	Previewing Analysis Manager
•	Preparing to Create a Cube
•	Building the Sales Cube
•	Processing the Cube
•	Viewing the Results

Module 3: Understanding Analysis Services Architecture

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Overview
•	Microsoft Data Warehousing Overview
•	Analysis Services Components
•	Metadata Repository
•	Cube Storage Options
•	Client Architecture
•	Office 2000 OLAP Components

Module 4: Building Dimensions Using the Dimension Editor

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Understanding Dimension Basics
•	Shared vs. Private Dimensions
•	Working with Standard Dimensions
•	Basic Level Properties
•	Working with Parent-Child Dimensions

Module 5: Using Advanced Dimension Settings

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Working with Levels and Hierarchies
•	Working with Time Dimensions
•	Creating Custom Rollups
•	Introducing Member Properties
•	Understanding Virtual Dimensions

Module 6: Working with Cubes and Measures

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introduction to Cubes
•	Working with Cubes
•	Introduction to Measures
•	Working with Measures
•	Defining Cube Properties
•	Using the Disabled Property

Module 7: Case Study - Creating the Store Expense Cube

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Building the Store Expense Cube
•	Updating the Store Expense Cube

Module 8: Managing Storage and Optimization

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Analysis Server Cube Storage
•	The Storage Design Wizard
•	Analysis Server Aggregations
•	Usage-Based Optimization
•	Optimization Tuning

Module 9: Processing Dimensions and Cubes

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introducing Dimension and Cube Processing
•	Processing Dimensions
•	Processing Cubes
•	Optimizing Cube Processing
•	Troubleshooting Cube Processing

Module 10: Managing Partitions

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introducing Partitions
•	Creating Partitions
•	Using Advanced Settings
•	Merging Partitions

Module 11: Implementing Calculations Using MDX

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Understanding Calculated Members
•	Building Calculated Members
•	Creating Non-Measure Calculated Members
•	Using Functions Within Calculated Members
•	Understanding Other Calculation Methods
•	Introducing Solve Order

Module 12: Working with Virtual Cubes

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Understanding Virtual Cubes
•	Obtaining Logical Results
•	Building a Virtual Cube
•	Creating Calculated Members

Module 13: Using Excel as an OLAP Client

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Office 2000 OLAP Components
•	Using Excel PivotTables
•	Using PivotCharts
•	Working with Local Cubes
•	Creating OLAP-Enabled Web Pages

Module 14: Using Actions, Drillthrough, and Writeback

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Creating Actions
•	Performing Drillthrough
•	Understanding Writeback

Module 15: Implementing Security

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introducing Analysis Services Security
•	Understanding Administrator Security
•	Helping Protect User Authentication
•	Understanding Database Roles
•	Implementing Dimension Security
•	Managing Cube Roles

Module 16: Deploying an OLAP Solution

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introducing DTS
•	Executing and Scheduling Packages
•	The Analysis Services Processing Task
•	Copying and Archiving OLAP Databases

Module 17: Introduction to Data Mining

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Introducing Data Mining
•	Training a Data Mining Model
•	Building a Data Mining Model with OLAP Data
•	Browsing the Dependency Network

Module 18: Case Study - Working with the Foodmart Database

The following topics are covered in this module:

•	Building the Warehouse Cube
•	Building the Sales Cube
•	Building the Warehouse and Sales Virtual Cube