Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Essbase Analytics Option
Welcome to the exciting world of Essbase Analytics known as the Aggregate Storage
Option (ASO).
In the irst nine chapters of this topic, we have taken you from being a competent IT
professional that is an Essbase novice, to that same competent IT professional who
is now a capable Essbase programmer/administrator as well. All along this journey,
we've been using the Block Storage Option (BSO) database architecture.
We have presented all of the instructions, teachings, and examples based on the
BSO, in Essbase. All of the efficient methods of processing, performance tuning,
and database design have been geared towards using the BSO. In fact, prior to
Essbase version 7.x, your only option was the use of the BSO architecture for
building Essbase applications.
Well, now you're ready to take everything one step further. You see, the BSO
architecture used by Essbase is the original database architecture as the behind the
scenes method of data storage in an Essbase database. Remember, we have already
discussed that the block construction can be conceptually compared to a Rubik's
Cube for how the data is stored in the cells of a data block, like the cells of color on
a Rubik's Cube. The ASO method is entirely different.
Let's learn all about the ASO which is now also used to store data in an Essbase
database. We will learn exactly what ASO is, how it works, and when to use
ASO instead of BSO. We will explain the use of the special industry standard
multidimensional data query language known as MDX that is employed by Essbase,
and is particularly effective with ASO. Finally, we'll go over the pros and cons of
ASO and BSO.
