lesson2defininganddeployingacube.docVIP

Lesson 2: Defining and Deploying a Cube After you define a data source view in your Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) project, you are ready to define an initial Analysis Services cube. You can start by defining dimensions independently of any cube, and then define one or more cubes that use those dimensions. You can also define a cube and its dimensions in a single pass, by using the Cube Wizard in Business Intelligence Development Studio. If you are creating a simple cube, or if you are new to defining cubes, we recommend that you create the cube and its dimensions in a single pass with the Cube Wizard. However, if you are designing a more complex solution that is made up of multiple cubes that share common database dimensions, you generally start by defining the dimensions at the database level. These are called database dimensions. You then define each cube in the solution, specifying whether and how each database dimension will be used in each cube. These are called cube dimensions. A single database dimension can be used as the basis for multiple cube dimensions. This lesson contains the following tasks: Defining a Cube In this task, you use the Cube Wizard to define dimensions, attributes, hierarchies, and an initial Analysis Services cube. Reviewing Cube and Dimension Properties In this task, you review the dimensions, hierarchies, attributes, and the cube that you defined with the Cube Wizard. Deploying an Analysis Services Project In this task, you deploy the Analysis Services project to your local instance of Analysis Services, and learn about certain deployment properties. Browsing the Deployed Cube In this task, you browse cube and dimension data by using the browsers in Cube Designer and Dimension Designer. STEP 1: Defining a Cube It is easy to define a simple cube in SQL Server 2005 by using the Cube Wizard. The wizard helps you to define the measures and dimensions for a cube. In the wizard, you can define a cube based on a da