Are you using SSRS against the data stored? Because if you are, I'd say you could write reports in blinding speed if you wanted to. However, you have to get an SSRS report server running and then connect to appropriate data stores - either regular SQL Server RDBMS type tables and such, or to a cube.
Also keep in mind, don't shove too much data into a cube, it isn't really Hadoop + MapReduce type capabilities there, you're just making it a little faster. Then of course, if you're stepping into serious data sizes you'll probably need to just drop SQL Server for most of it (i.e. 1+ TB and on up to the Petabyte range). As for faster to write? Not sure, MDX is about as muddlesome and unmaintainable as SQL is, with a bad proclivity to end up designed very very top down without any sort of appropriate abstractions. In addition, there really isn't any good way to do clean TDD/BDD style dev with MDX reports against cubes. ...there are some really weird and perverse XML frameworks that some might call unit testing frameworks, but I really can't say anything positive about those. Another thing I'd highly suggest, vs. having a bunch of people answer without knowing your entire situation, is to just learn the basic design schemas for cubes (snowflakes, etc) and see how and where you would query data from those. You might find MDX either completely useless or super helpful. It really all boils down to what you have, how it is stored, and how you want it returned to end users. -Adron On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 4:40 PM, Kent Skinner <[email protected]>wrote: > You guys are awesome - thank you! I took your advice and signed up for > Safari Online, and will check out the Kimball and MDX books. > > Erick, at the moment I'm trying to determine if a data cube would make > our reports faster & easier to write. We have a cube-like structure > for most of our tables already - a row exists for every combination of > queried dimension and filter. I'm trying to figure out if using a real > OLAP system like SSAS or Mondrian and writing reports with MDX would > enable us to add new reports more easily. At the moment, each new > report involves a lot of work. On the other hand, I have no experience > with SSAS or MDX and wonder if MDX is rich enough to express some of > our more complex reports. > > Anyway, I'll be reading like mad over the next couple of weeks to try > to answer this question. > > Thanks again everyone, > Kent > > > On Dec 16, 6:10 pm, Erick Thompson <[email protected]> wrote: > > I believe that I have a copy of that book. It might be an earlier > edition, > > I will have to check. I haven't opened it in ages, so I would be happy to > > loan it out. > > > > For OLAP in general, it depends on what aspect your coming in on. Are you > > working on query/front end, cube design, ETL, or something else? There > is a > > lot of material. > > > > Erick > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 4:18 PM, carlosk <[email protected]> wrote: > > > To learn MDX, I recommend this book: > > >http://www.amazon.com/Fast-Track-MDX-Mark-Whitehorn/dp/1846281741 > > > > > I took the BCC online classes on BI and I found them very useful in > > > jump starting my BI skills. From there it is a matter of reading the > > > blogs and practicing. > > >http://bellevuecollege.edu/distance/degrees/AchievBusITDev.asp > > > > > As for posting questions, I'd recommend searching on Google for: MDX > > > sql forum > > > You're more likely to get BI experts there. > > > > > Also look at the AdventureWorks samples. It includes the OLTP, ETL, > > > OLAP databases, and the the cube. It's a good starting place to see a > > > sample system. > > > > > Also try googling for: ssas filetype:pdf site:microsoft.com > > > > > I hope this helps. > > > -Carlos Klapp > > > > > -- > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups > > > "Seattle area Alt.Net" group. > > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > [email protected]. > > > For more options, visit this group at > > >http://groups.google.com/group/altnetseattle?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Seattle area Alt.Net" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/altnetseattle?hl=en. > > -- *Adron B Hall* *Tech*: http://compositecode.com *Transit*: http://transitsleuth.com *Twitter*: http://www.twitter.com/adron -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Seattle area Alt.Net" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/altnetseattle?hl=en.
