In-memory, the Future - Getting Started with SQL Server 2012 Cube Development - page 259

Chapter 9. In-memory, the Future
In the previous chapters, we have concentrated on the multi-dimensional or OLAP
version of Analysis Services. The ability to create multi-dimensional models has been
a part of every release of SQL Server since Version 7.0 was released in March 1999.
With the SQL Server 2008 R2 release, Microsoft followed a popular trend by releasing
an in-memory analytical engine. This was first released as a client engine part of Ex-
cel 2010 called PowerPivot . Microsoft also released a version of Analysis Services
that could be installed as part of a SharePoint farm and handle Excel workbooks that
contained PowerPivot models.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
• Understanding the tabular model
• Creating projects for tabular modeling
• Specifying a workspace server and connecting to the data source
• Adding tables to a data model
• Creating connections to other data sources
• Working with partitions in Analysis Services
• Creating calculations and KPIs
• Adding hierarchies to a tabular model
• How to create perspectives in tabular models
• Securing tabular models
• Performance optimizing tabular models
Understanding tabular models
Thisfirstreleaseofthein-memorymodelwastargetedforbusinessuserswhowanted
to create their own models mashing up data from different sources in an easy-to-use
tool. Microsoft wanted to create the ultimate business analytics tool for the Excel user,
and they added the PowerPivot add-in to Excel 2010. Microsoft also added a server
model of PowerPivot that is installed together with their collaboration platform called
SharePoint . The goal of PowerPivot for SharePoint was to enable users to share the
models between them and with other users. Because the size of the model can be
quite big, it is not practical to do so through other means such as e-mail or file shares.