SQL 2014: Getting started with OLTP, OLAP, SSIS, SSAS and SSRS

As passionate developer, I come in touch with many technologies, but only a few of them has been so tough to crack as SSAS and SSRS. While learning SSIS, I felt i was learning a lot about datawarehousing, and I couldn't really imagine there could be more to it. At the same time I knew there must be more to it, as SSAS and SSRS was a part of the SQL Server suite.

Now I know that SSIS, SSAS and SSRS can be translated to data gathering, data modelling and data visualisation.

And I have written this post to give a swift explenation of SSIS, SSAS and SSRS so it might be easier for you to get started.

My dream database setup 

Starting with a greenfield project, is often difficult. There no experiences and no knowledge, thereby there is paved no road, to go by when developing the system. In my opinion, the 1st mistake which the most make at this point, is to put it all data in same database. This leads to a monolith system, which is hard to maintain and expand. The 2nd mistake is not to divide the database setup in OLTP and OLAP. This lead to analysis with heavy querying in production and passive historic data also stored in production.

OLTP is an acronym for Online Transaction Processing. In other words, it is the database, which is in the line of business. You can also call it, the database with live data. In my dream setup for at system, i would have a bunch micro services, all supported by their own database. Not necessarily relational databases, I would have the database which fitted the job best. The data in these databases, would be on a journey, which ended in a OLAP system. This journey could span from instant to the lifetime of the system.

OLAP is an acronym for Online analytical Processing. OLAP is almost always, analysed for financial reasons, and therefor it should be the last stop for data. It must not return to OLTP, because it would mean, that history could be re-written which is a problem when it comes to finance.

The process of getting data from OLTP to OLAP, would be data gathering, which is the perfect intro for next topic: SSIS.

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

SSIS has become one of my favourite SQL Server tools. With few drag and drops, it is possible to setup data copy or transformation. Compared to scripting(as a developer I usually prefers scripting), it is so much faster to get something up and running, and also easier to structure. Enough praising.

Referring to OLTP about having several different databases, and SSIS being able to read from different source. It is the perfect tool to support this solution.

DQS (Data Quality Service) and MDS (Master Data Service) are often mention together with SSIS. These tool works only with SQL Server, but if you are all-in with SQL Server these tools are quite good. DQS is for correcting data, as they are gathered. MDS is sort of an authority which distribute a data model through out a system to the connected SQL Server database. It makes sure data integrity is kept.

There is other suppliers of ETL tool for SQL Server, but I only use SSIS.

SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)

Even thou data is arranged by stars, and it browsable through excel, it can be better. While a star is easy to imagine, it can be more difficult to imagine an cube, and in the beginning even to realize the difference. A cube is like a dimensional system, as we now it from math. Most of us can imagine 1st, 2nd, 3rd dimensional system. Some of us can even imagine a 4th dimensional system, by collapsing 3 dimensions and add a 4th dimension, so it look 2 dimensional again.

Each dim table in a star, would be a dimension in a cube, but they are still not the same. In principle you could take a star, print out all tables, put the papers on a table and then draw lines for each relation from the dimension tables to the fact table. Where a cube is arranged (as mentioned before) an a virtual dimensional system, it is really not printable, but fast for analysing/browsing.

SSAS Helps you building cubes, so that would be data modelling. It will also assist you to do some data mining. I'll will refrain to speak of data mining with SSAS, because I haven't touch that topic yet.

Working with cubes, is a way in SSAS which called dimensional mode. SSAS has two more modes: PowerPivot and Tabular. It is other ways to model data, and which one is best? It depends. 

But with there is no point in having data modelled, if you can't deliver their information in a readable way.

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)

As you might have guessed SSRS is the visualisation part of the SQL Server suite. There not much to say. It easy to design reports with the editor, you can render reports to various formats and make them available from a reporting server or a share point site.

Take advantages of having SSIS, SSAS and SSRS available

SSIS, SSAS and SSRS are available from SQL Server standard, BI and Enterprise. Not using these tools, when having SQL Server licenses which includes them is as failure. Often have I seen, and have properly in past done myself, custom made reports and based on some analysis directly from the production environment. 

Nobody finds it funny to create custom reports and nobody finds it funny to maintain them. So using SSIS, SSAS and SSRS is a win-win, because it would mean full value from licenses, and developers would use less time on reports and more time on funny stuff.

Getting started 

Getting started with SSAS and SSRS, was a bit hard for me, but fortunately I did stumble in the book: Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Business Intelligence Development: Beginner’s Guide by Raza Red. It is real page turner, which is nice, if you reads a lot of books per year.

It is very comprehensive and filled examples, with good explanations, which I like a lot.