Oracle Essbase 9 Implementation Guide- P80 ppt

Essbase Analytics Option[ 380 ] Pros and cons of ASO The ASO is fast becoming the standard for extra large Essbase databases.. To give you our idea of the ideal application of ASO and BS

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Pros and cons of ASO

The ASO is fast becoming the standard for extra large Essbase databases Where

the need for high speed data retrieval for reporting and analysis can eclipse the

need for full-featured functionality, ASO fills in nicely Here we will describe

what we feel are some of the positive features of the ASO as well as some of the

not so positive features for you

Pros

Listed below are just a few high-level features that we feel makes the Essbase ASO

a good choice:

• Easy optimization, massive data scalability, reduced disk space, and

upto 100 times faster

• Database creation is accomplished by either migrating a BSO outline or

defined as new after application creation

• Outline dimensions will not need to be designated as dense or sparse

• Outline is validated every time a database is started

• Database calculation or aggregation of the database can be predefined

by defining aggregate views

• Calculation order is not relevant for database calculation, but is relevant

for dynamic calculation formulas

• Limited write back ability

• At the end of a data load, if aggregation exists, the values in aggregation

are recalculated and updated automatically

• Aggregate storage database outlines are page-able This feature significantly reduces memory usage for very large database outlines

Cons

Listed below are a few high-level features that we feel you may need to be wary

of when using the Essbase ASO:

• Aggregate storage applications have some limitations that do not apply to

block storage applications with regard to consolidations, calculations, and

overall robust functionality

• Can store only one database per application

• Names reserved for table spaces cannot be used as application

or database names

Chapter 10

• Accounts dimension does not support time balance members and association

of attribute dimensions

• On non-account dimensions, there are restrictions on label only members and dynamic time series members Members tagged as dynamic hierarchies have

no restrictions on the consolidation settings Stored hierarchy members can

only be tagged as label only or (+) addition

• Non-account dimensions support only consolidation operator (+) addition

• Calculation scripts are not supported

• Formulas are allowed only on account dimension members and allowed

with certain restrictions

• Only Level 0 cells whose values do not depend on formulas in the outline

are loaded

• Data values are cleared each time the outline is structurally changed

Therefore, incremental data loads are only supported for outlines that

do not change

• Currency conversion is not supported without the use of special MDX

queries This method can have a negative effect on performance

As you can see, there are some substantial differences and some very good reasons to use one type of database over another To give you our idea of the ideal application of ASO and BSO, read below:

• ASO Database: The ASO database is ideal for dynamically built Essbase

cubes that are usually Read Only and used for reporting, presentation, and

analysis This type of database would also tend to have a rather large outline where at least one dimension has a significant amount of members A parts

dimension or product dimension comes to mind

Behind this ASO database would be a large BSO parent Essbase database,

from which the dynamic ASO databases are built on the fly

• BSO Database: The BSO database is ideal for virtually any size cube, but

where performance is not necessarily the number one priority Accuracy

and completeness of data would be the main consideration

The BSO database is ideal as the large parent database where users from

many different departments can trigger jobs which will dynamically build

ASO reporting cubes on an as needed basis The typical BSO database is

ideally suited for financial analysis applications

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Of course, these are just one possibility or scenario The beauty of Essbase is that you can do most anything with it Heck, you could easily have a large Oracle relational

database as the backend data source for your ASO cubes

The possibilities are endless!

Summary

We hope you have found the information in this chapter as fun, exciting, and useful

as we have As we've said repeatedly throughout this book, it should be no wonder

to you why Oracle Essbase is the number one data analytics tool in the world! It's

almost as though Essbase is a product that is never finished, because just when you think it can't get any better, it gets even better!

You should now have a good understanding of the two very different but

complimentary Essbase database architectures The BSO is the old standby

foundation in the world of Essbase, and the ASO is the streamlined speedster

The differences in many cases between ASO and BSO are minor, but their affect

can be dramatic The BSO utilizes the standard data block method of storing data,

while the ASO uses the aggregate method The BSO is built for rugged and robust

computing and analysis The ASO is built for high speed, high volume data analysis and reporting

We're sure you see by now that whether you use ASO, BSO, or both together,

you can be confident you have made the right choice

Yes, there are several imitators out there There are some that are even pushing their product for free We are confident you will agree with us that when all is said and

done, Essbase is the clearly superior tool Read on in fact, for an introduction to some

of the new components available in what is now a suite of Essbase applications

Essbase System 9

Components

Here we are at the last chapter of this outstanding book It has taken ten, occasionally long, chapters to get you to a point where you are proficient and capable in the

exciting world of Oracle Essbase

A lot has changed with Essbase since the early days back in the 1990's Essbase itself has grown and flourished into the world's leading OLAP analytic software and now includes all of the bells and whistles you'd expect and more

The purpose of this chapter is to go over some exciting new additions to the Essbase family No longer is it just Essbase, the multidimensional OLAP database The future

of Essbase, beginning with Essbase version 9.x, is now Essbase System 9

Essbase System 9 is now a suite of analytical applications or components of which

Essbase is the cornerstone Some of the components enhance the overall abilities of

the suite and some are targeted more to specific computing purposes

Overview of System 9 components

When Oracle purchased Hyperion and several other companies, they set out to

organize their product catalog and bring together a standardized naming convention

as well as standardized software versioning The Essbase suite of tools and

applications is no exception as Essbase version 9.x has become Essbase System 9,

and there never really was a commercially released Essbase version 8.x Oracle now has plans to further integrate the Essbase suite of tools and components into their

product catalog and we'll just need to wait and see how this plays out with version

11 and beyond

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What we are giving you in this chapter is a high level look at each new Essbase tool

or component and also a slightly lower level look at the hot new additions to the

Essbase family Not to detract from any of the other Essbase family members, but

the new Oracle Smart View, for one, is an awesome tool to have in your toolbox

Essbase Analytic Services (Essbase agent)

The term Essbase analytic services, while commonly thought to refer to the Essbase suite of applications, actually refers to the common Essbase system structure that is built around the Essbase analytic database engine technology

We know this sounds confusing, but here is how it works In your Essbase toolbox,

you can have many different tools Some of them are optional and can be added at

an additional expense and some of them must be included from the beginning for

proper system installation No matter what tools you want to add to your Essbase

toolbox, the Essbase agent or Essbase analytic services must be included and it is

the cornerstone of the Essbase suite of applications

The Essbase agent is what you install on your server in order to make it an Essbase analytic server The Essbase agent is what you use to build, deploy, and maintain

your Essbase databases

In a nutshell, Essbase analytic services is the heart and soul of your Essbase system

Essbase Planning

Also known as Hyperion Planning or even Oracle Planning, Essbase Planning is

a centralized Microsoft Excel and web-based planning and forecasting tool that

combines data from various internal business activities such as finance, marketing,

and so on, into one integrated tool Planning uses the data to provide a closer

look at the company's overall business operations and helps improve the forecast

predictability accuracy

Planning makes use of Essbase in an ingenious way The data for each business

activity is stored in its own custom Essbase database or cube Several business

activities can share the same cube and have their own set of dimensions and

members Therefore, Essbase must be started and running in the background so

Planning can access the cubes The various Planning functions are then supported

by Planning's seamless accessing of the data from the Essbase cubes and by using

the stored business rule feature to apply the customer defined business rules to the

data for planning and analysis purposes