Glossary: Glossary

Glossary

access control entry: a set of identities and permissions that are directly associated with a particular resource. Each access control entry is directly associated with only one resource. More than one ACE can be associated with each resource. Short form: ACE.
ACE: See access control entry.
aggregation: a summary of detail data that is stored with or referred to by a cube. Aggregations support rapid and efficient answers to business questions.
API: See application programming interface.
application programming interface: a set of software functions that facilitate communication between applications and other kinds of programs or services. Short form: API.
Application Response Measurement: the name of an application programming interface that was developed by an industry partnership and which is used to monitor the availability and performance of software applications. ARM monitors the application tasks that are important to a particular business. Short form: ARM.
ARM: See Application Response Measurement.
authentication: the process of verifying the identity of a person or process within the guidelines of a specific authorization policy.
authentication domain: a SAS internal category that pairs logins with the servers for which they are valid. For example, an Oracle server and the SAS copies of Oracle credentials might all be classified as belonging to an OracleAuth authentication domain.
client-side pooling: a configuration in which the client application maintains a collection of reusable workspace server processes. See also puddle.
cube: a logical set of data that is organized and structured in a hierarchical, multidimensional arrangement. A cube is a directory structure, not a single file. A cube includes measures, and it can have numerous dimensions and levels of data.
cube loading: the process of building a logical set of data that is organized and structured in a hierarchical, multidimensional arrangement. See also cube.
daemon: a process that starts and waits either for a request to perform work or for an occurrence of a particular event. After the daemon receives the request or detects the occurrence, it performs the appropriate action. If nothing else is in its queue, the daemon then returns to its wait state.
Data Transfer Services: a feature of SAS/CONNECT software that enables data to be transferred between a SAS/CONNECT client and a SAS/CONNECT server, regardless of the operating environment, the computer architectures, and the SAS release that is being used. Short form: DTS.
deployment plan: information about what software should be installed and configured on each machine in a SAS deployment. A deployment plan is an XML file that is used as input to the SAS Deployment Wizard. There are two types of deployment plans: standard and custom. A standard deployment plan describes a common configuration. Standard plans are stored by default in the SAS Software Depot. A custom deployment plan is created by a SAS representative specifically for a site.
dimension: a group of closely related hierarchies. Hierarchies within a dimension typically represent different groupings of information that pertains to a single concept. For example, a Time dimension might consist of two hierarchies: (1) Year, Month, Date, and (2) Year, Week, Day. See also hierarchy.
DNS name: a name that is meaningful to people and that corresponds to the numeric TCP/IP address of a computer on the Internet. For example, www.alphaliteairways.com might be the DNS name for an Alphalite Airways Web server whose TCP/IP address is 192.168.145.6.
drill-through table: a view, data set, or other data file that contains data that is used to define a cube. Drill-through tables can be used by client applications to provide a view from processed data into the underlying data source.
DTS: See Data Transfer Services.
encryption: the act or process of converting data to a form that only the intended recipient can read or use.
grid: a collection of networked computers that are coordinated to provide load balancing of multiple SAS jobs, scheduling of SAS workflows, and accelerated processing of parallel jobs.
grid control server: the machine on a grid that distributes SAS programs or jobs to the grid nodes. The grid control server can also execute programs or jobs that are sent to the grid.
grid monitoring server: a metadata object that stores the information necessary for the Grid Manager plug-in in SAS Management Console to connect with the Platform Suite for SAS or other grid middleware to allow monitoring and management of the grid.
grid node: a machine that is capable of receiving and executing work that is distributed to a grid.
hierarchy: an arrangement of members of a dimension into levels that are based on parent-child relationships. Members of a hierarchy are arranged from more general to more specific. For example, in a Time dimension, a hierarchy might consist of the members Year, Quarter, Month, and Day. In a Geography dimension, a hierarchy might consist of the members Country, State or Province, and City. More than one hierarchy can be defined for a dimension. Each hierarchy provides a navigational path that enables users to drill down to increasing levels of detail. See also member and level.
Integrated Object Model: the set of distributed object interfaces that make SAS software features available to client applications when SAS is executed as an object server. Short form: IOM.
Integrated Object Model server: a SAS object server that is launched in order to fulfill client requests for IOM services. Short form: IOM server.
IOM: See Integrated Object Model.
IOM bridge: a software component of SAS Integration Technologies that enables Java clients and Windows clients to access an IOM server.
IOM server: See Integrated Object Model server.
level: an element of a dimension hierarchy. Levels describe the dimension from the highest (most summarized) level to the lowest (most detailed) level. For example, possible levels for a Geography dimension are Country, Region, State or Province, and City.
load balancing: for IOM bridge connections, a program that runs in the object spawner and that uses an algorithm to distribute work across object server processes on the same or separate machines in a cluster.
logical grid server: a metadata object that stores the command that is used by a grid-enabled SAS program to start a SAS session on a grid.
logical server: in the SAS Metadata Server, the second-level object in the metadata for SAS servers. A logical server specifies one or more of a particular type of server component, such as one or more SAS Workspace Servers.
MDX language: See multidimensional expressions language.
measure: a special dimension that contains summarized numeric data values that are analyzed. Total Sales and Average Revenue are examples of measures. For example, you might drill down within the Clothing hierarchy of the Product dimension to see the value of the Total Sales measure for the Shirts member.
member: a name that represents a particular data element within a dimension. For example, September 1996 might be a member of the Time dimension. A member can be either unique or non-unique. For example, 1997 and 1998 represent unique members in the Year level of a Time dimension. January represents non-unique members in the Month level, because there can be more than one January in the Time dimension if the Time dimension contains data for more than one year.
metadata object: a set of attributes that describe a table, a server, a user, or another resource on a network. The specific attributes that a metadata object includes vary depending on which metadata model is being used.
MultiBridge connection: a specialized bridge connection that is used for stored process servers. Each MultiBridge connection represents a separate server process and runs on a specific port.
multidimensional expressions language: a standardized, high-level language that is used to query multidimensional data sources. The MDX language is the multidimensional equivalent of SQL (Structured Query Language). Short form: MDX language.
NWAY aggregation: the aggregation that has the minimum set of dimension levels that is required for answering any business question. The NWAY aggregation is the aggregation that has the finest granularity.
object spawner: a program that instantiates object servers that are using an IOM bridge connection. The object spawner listens for incoming client requests for IOM services. When the spawner receives a request from a new client, it launches an instance of an IOM server to fulfill the request. Depending on which incoming TCP/IP port the request was made on, the spawner either invokes the administrator interface or processes a request for a UUID (Universal Unique Identifier).
OLAP: See online analytical processing.
OLAP schema: a group of cubes. A cube is assigned to an OLAP schema when it is created, and an OLAP schema is assigned to a SAS OLAP Server when the server is defined in the metadata. A SAS OLAP Server can access only the cubes that are in its assigned OLAP schema.
online analytical processing: a software technology that enables users to dynamically analyze data that is stored in multidimensional database (MDDB) tables. Short form: OLAP.
pool: a group of server connections that can be shared and reused by multiple client applications. A client-side pool consists of one or more puddles. See also puddle, client-side pooling, and server-side pooling.
puddle: a group of servers that are started and run using the same login credentials. Each puddle can also allow a group of clients to access the servers. See also client-side pooling.
Remote Library Services: a feature of SAS/SHARE and SAS/CONNECT software that enables you to read, write, and update remote data as if it were stored on the client. RLS can be used to access SAS data sets on computers that have different architectures. RLS also provides read-only access to some types of SAS catalog entries on computers that have different architectures. Short form: RLS.
RLS: See Remote Library Services.
SAS Application Server: in the SAS Intelligence Platform, a logical entity that represents the SAS server tier. This logical entity contains specific servers (for example, a SAS Workspace Server and a SAS Stored Process Server) that execute SAS code. A SAS Application Server has relationships with other metadata objects. For example, a SAS library can be assigned to a SAS Application Server. When a client application needs to access that library, the client submits code to the SAS Application Server to which the library is assigned.
SAS ARM interface: an interface that can be used to monitor the performance of SAS applications. In the SAS ARM interface, the ARM API is implemented as an ARM agent. In addition, SAS supplies ARM macros, which generate calls to the ARM API function calls, and ARM system options, which enable you to manage the ARM environment and to log internal SAS processing transactions. See also ARM (Application Response Measurement).
SAS batch server: in general, a SAS application server that is running in batch mode. In the SAS Open Metadata Architecture, the metadata for a SAS batch server specifies the network address of a SAS Workspace Server, as well as a SAS start command that will run jobs in batch mode on the SAS Workspace Server.
SAS Deployment Wizard: a cross-platform utility that installs and initially configures many SAS products. Using a SAS installation data file and, when appropriate, a deployment plan for its initial input, the wizard is designed to prompt the customer for all the remaining input at the start of the session so that the customer does not have to monitor an entire deployment.
SAS Foundation Services: a set of core infrastructure services that programmers can use in developing distributed applications that are integrated with the SAS platform. These services provide basic underlying functions that are common to many applications. These functions include making client connections to SAS application servers, dynamic service discovery, user authentication, profile management, session context management, metadata and content repository access, activity logging, event management, information publishing, and stored process execution. See also service.
SAS Management Console: a Java application that provides a single user interface for performing SAS administrative tasks.
SAS Metadata Repository: a repository that is used by the SAS Metadata Server to store and retrieve metadata. See also SAS Metadata Server.
SAS Metadata Server: a multi-user server that enables users to read metadata from or write metadata to one or more SAS Metadata Repositories. The SAS Metadata Server uses the Integrated Object Model (IOM), which is provided with SAS Integration Technologies, to communicate with clients and with other servers.
SAS OLAP Cube Studio: a Java interface for defining and building OLAP cubes in SAS System 9 or later. Its main feature is the Cube Designer wizard, which guides you through the process of registering and creating cubes.
SAS OLAP Server: a SAS server that provides access to multidimensional data. The data is queried using the multidimensional expressions (MDX) language.
SAS Open Metadata Architecture: a general-purpose metadata management facility that provides metadata services to SAS applications. The SAS Open Metadata Architecture enables applications to exchange metadata, which makes it easier for these applications to work together.
SAS Pooled Workspace Server: a SAS Workspace Server that is configured to use server-side pooling. In this configuration, the SAS object spawner maintains a collection of workspace server processes that are available for clients.
SAS Stored Process Server: a SAS IOM server that is launched in order to fulfill client requests for SAS Stored Processes. See also IOM server.
SAS token authentication: a process in which the metadata server generates and verifies SAS identity tokens to provide single sign-on to other SAS servers. Each token is a single-use, proprietary software representation of an identity.
SAS Workspace Server: a SAS IOM server that is launched in order to fulfill client requests for IOM workspaces. See also IOM server and workspace.
SAS/CONNECT server: a server that provides SAS/CONNECT services to a client. When SAS Data Integration Studio generates code for a job, it uses SAS/CONNECT software to submit code to remote computers. SAS Data Integration Studio can also use SAS/CONNECT software for interactive access to remote libraries.
SAS/CONNECT spawner: a program that runs on a remote computer and that listens for SAS/CONNECT client requests for connection to the remote computer. When the spawner program receives a request, it invokes a SAS session on the remote computer.
Scalable Performance Data Engine: a SAS engine that is able to deliver data to applications rapidly because it organizes the data into a streamlined file format. The SPD Engine divides a problem (such as a WHERE clause) into smaller problems that can be processed in parallel. Short form: SPD Engine.
schema: a map or model of the overall data structure of a database. An OLAP schema specifies which group of cubes an OLAP server can access.
server component: in SAS Management Console, a metadata object that specifies information about how to connect to a particular kind of SAS server on a particular computer.
server context: a SAS IOM server concept that describes how SAS Application Servers manage client requests. A SAS Application Server has an awareness (or context) of how it is being used and makes decisions based on that awareness. For example, when a SAS Data Integration Studio client submits code to its SAS Application Server, the server determines what type of code is submitted and directs it to the correct physical server for processing (in this case, a SAS Workspace Server).
server-side pooling: a configuration in which a SAS object spawner maintains a collection of reusable workspace server processes that are available for clients. The usage of servers in this pool is governed by the authorization rules that are set on the servers in the SAS metadata.
service: one or more application components that an authorized user or application can call at any time to provide results that conform to a published specification. For example, network services transmit data or provide conversion of data in a network, database services provide for the storage and retrieval of data in a database, and Web services interact with each other on the World Wide Web. See also SAS Foundation Services.
single sign-on: an authentication model that enables users to access a variety of computing resources without being repeatedly prompted for their user IDs and passwords. For example, single sign-on can enable a user to access SAS servers that run on different platforms without interactively providing the user's ID and password for each platform. Single sign-on can also enable someone who is using one application to launch other applications based on the authentication that was performed when the user initially logged on.
SPD Engine: See Scalable Performance Data Engine.
SSO: See single sign-on.
star schema: tables in a database in which a single fact table is connected to multiple dimension tables. This is visually represented in a star pattern. SAS OLAP cubes can be created from a star schema.
thread: a single path of execution of a process in a single CPU, or a basic unit of program execution in a thread-enabled operating system. In an SMP environment, which uses multiple CPUs, multiple threads can be spawned and processed simultaneously. Regardless of whether there is one CPU or many, each thread is an independent flow of control that is scheduled by the operating system.
threaded I/O: I/O that is performed by multiple threads in order to increase its speed. In order for threaded I/O to improve performance significantly, the application that is performing the I/O must be capable of processing the data rapidly as well. See also thread.
threading: a high-performance method of data I/O or data processing in which the I/O or processing is divided into multiple threads that are executed in parallel. In the boss-worker model of threading, the same code for the I/O or calculation process is executed simultaneously in separate threads on multiple CPUs. In the pipeline model, a process is divided into steps, which are then executed simultaneously in separate threads on multiple CPUs.
wizard: an interactive utility program that consists of a series of dialog boxes, windows, or pages. Users supply information in each dialog box, window, or page, and the wizard uses that information to perform a task.
workspace: in the IOM object hierarchy for a SAS Workspace Server, an object that represents a single session in SAS. See also Integrated Object Model.

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