Professional SQL Server 2000 Data Warehousing with Analysis Services

Professional SQL Server 2000 Data Warehousing with Analysis Services
by Multiple Authors
Copyright 2001
Wrox Press

Find out more about this book, or purchase it, from Amazon.com

There actually isn't a lot of material written on SQL Server 2000 data warehousing. I find this surprising because SQL Server 2000's data warehousing capabilities are first-rate, especially considering how little the software costs when compared to other data warehousing software. I don't know if this is due to a lack of SQL Server 2000 data warehousing professionals, or because book publishers don't see the potential of this product.

In any event, Wrox Press has come to the rescue with a solid book on how to use SQL Server 2000, along with its Analysis Services, to deal with data warehousing projects. While it is not a 100% comprehensive discussion of the subject, it covers all the basics, along with many advanced subjects, that you need to help learn this sometimes difficult and arcane subject.

Here's what the book covers:

• Analysis Services in SQL Server 2000 -- An Overview

• Microsoft Analysis Services Architecture

• Analysis Services Tools

• Data Marts

• The Transactional System

• Designing the Data Warehouse and OLAP Solution

• Introducing Data Transformation Services (DTS)

• Advanced DTS Topics

• Building OLAP Cubes with Analysis Manager

• Introduction to MDX

• Advanced MDX Topics

• Using the PivotTable Service

• OLAP Services Project Wizard in English Query

• Programming Analysis Services

• English Query and Analysis Services

• Data Mining -- An Overview

• Data Mining: Tools and Techniques

• Web Analytics

• Securing Analysis Services Cubes

• Tuning for Performance

• Maintaining the Data Warehouse

What I really like about this book is its performance tuning content. Not only is there an entire chapter devoted to it, but performance is discussed in many other chapters. As I say over and over again on this website, it is important for beginner's to learn about the importance of performance at the very beginning, so that they are always thinking about it when the administer SQL Server, or if they are developing SQL Server-based applications. By providing this information, the book helps to get data warehousing novices thinking about performance considerations early in the game.

If you are new to data warehousing and want to get a good introduction to this subject, I recommend that you check out this book.