Overview of SAS Scalable Performance Data (SPD) Server

SPD Server software is designed for high-performance data delivery. Its primary function is to provide user access to SAS data for intensive processing (queries and sorts) on the host server machine. When client workstations on different platforms send processing requests to an SPD Server host, the host returns results in the format required by each client workstation.
SPD Server uses parallelism to deliver rapid results for each user, while supporting many simultaneous users.
SPD Server 5.1 provides on-disk structures that are compatible with SAS 9.4 and the large table capacities that it supports. SPD Server clusters are a unique design feature. SPD Server is a full 64-bit server that supports up to 2 billion columns and for all practical purposes, unlimited rows of data.
SPD Server 5.1 operates on computers running SAS 9.4 or later. PC users who do not use SAS can still use SPD Server. For more information about connecting to SPD Server, see Overview of Using SPD Server with Other Clients. SAS users can access SPD Server by using SQL pass-through or by using the SAS language.
Syntax Conventions: SPD Server software supports SAS users and other users. SPD Server documentation uses common terminology that both audiences should understand. In SPD Server documentation, SAS data sets are referred to as tables, SAS variables are referred to as columns, and SAS observations are referred to as rows. The SPD Server product is referred to as SPD Server or the software, depending on the context of the documentation.