Planning Your Hardware and Software

Metadata Host Configuration

SAS/Warehouse Administrator stores its metadata in at least two SAS libraries:

libref _MASTER	is the Data Warehouse Environment repository. It stores metadata for any data stores defined at the Environment level, including host definitions and most other global metadata. _MASTER contains references to any Data Warehouse repositories (libref _DWMD).
libref _DWMD	is a Data Warehouse repository. It stores metadata for any data stores defined at the Data Warehouse level.

Warehouse Environments and Data Warehouses are described later in this document. For now, assume they are metadata records that specify the location of the metadata repositories for a data warehousing project.

SAS/Warehouse Administrator and its metadata repositories can be installed on the same host or on different hosts. Your SAS installation coordinator will help you choose the best metadata host configuration for your project. This section describes some recommendations and typical configurations.

Recommendations

A local Warehouse Environment is an Environment whose metadata repository is stored on the SAS/Warehouse Administrator host. Because SAS/Warehouse Administrator continuously accesses this metadata, you will get better performance if this metadata is local. SAS/Warehouse Administrator response time might be slower if it has to access metadata across a remote connection.

A remote Warehouse Environment might be appropriate if you require concurrent read/write access to Warehouse Environments by multiple SAS/Warehouse Administrator hosts. In that case, you should create a remote Warehouse Environment and put its metadata repository under the control of a SAS/SHARE server remote to the SAS/Warehouse Administrator hosts. PC Client to Windows NT Server shows an example of such a configuration.

CAUTION:: Concurrent read/write access to a SAS/Warehouse Administrator metadata repository by multiple SAS/Warehouse Administrator hosts must be controlled through a SAS/SHARE server. Otherwise, metadata can be corrupted if two or more users update the metadata at the same time.

Metadata Configuration to Avoid

In general, avoid configurations where the SAS/Warehouse Administrator host has one machine architecture (such as Microsoft Windows NT), and the metadata host has a different architecture (such as UNIX).

Remote access to Environment metadata is managed through SAS/SHARE software, and this application does not permit access to SAS catalogs if the local and remote hosts have different machine architectures. This means, for example, that you would not be able to store Notes for tables, columns, or other objects.

Jobs Information Libraries and SAS/SHARE Software

If you want SAS/Warehouse Administrator to generate code that will execute a Job at a future date and time, you must define one or more Jobs Information libraries. A Jobs Information library is a SAS library that contains status information for Jobs that have been scheduled through the Job Properties window in SAS/Warehouse Administrator. If job tracking is enabled for a given Job, when the Job executes, it will update its status in the appropriate Jobs Information library.

Jobs Information libraries are separate from the metadata repositories for an Environment or a Data Warehouse. A Warehouse Environment and its Data Warehouses can share one Jobs Information library, or they could have separate Jobs Information libraries.

CAUTION:: For a production data warehouse in which Jobs are scheduled and tracked through SAS/Warehouse Administrator, it is strongly recommended that you place the Jobs Information libraries under the control of a SAS/SHARE server.

A SAS/SHARE server will prevent sharing conflicts between running Jobs with tracking options enabled and SAS/Warehouse Administrator users who want to schedule Jobs or view the status of Jobs.

For a non-production data warehouse or for a data warehouse where Jobs are not tracked through SAS/Warehouse Administrator, it is not necessary to put the relevant Jobs Information libraries under the control of a SAS/SHARE server. For details about when a Job is tracked in SAS/Warehouse Administrator, see Tracking Jobs.

Local Metadata: Single Host

In the single host configuration, both SAS/Warehouse Administrator and its metadata are installed on the same machine.

Single Host

[Single Host]

Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking

Single Host with Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking shows the same configuration with additional software to support the scheduling and tracking of Jobs through SAS/Warehouse Administrator. Note that a SAS/SHARE server controls access to the Jobs Information libraries.

Single Host with Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking

[Single Host with Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking]

Remote Metadata: PC Client to Windows NT Server

This configuration is one possible solution for projects that require concurrent read/write access to the metadata repositories by multiple SAS/Warehouse Administrator users.

PC Client to Windows NT Server

[PC Client to Windows NT Server]

In this configuration, SAS/Warehouse Administrator is installed on one or more PC clients, and SAS/Warehouse Administrator metadata is installed on a remote machine running the Windows NT Server operating system. A SAS/SHARE server on the Windows NT host handles remote communications to and from the SAS/Warehouse Administrator clients. Each SAS/Warehouse Administrator client must have a license for SAS/SHARE, although this application does not have to be installed on each client.

Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking

PC Client to Windows NT Server with Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking shows the same configuration with additional software to support the scheduling and tracking of Jobs through SAS/Warehouse Administrator. Note that a SAS/SHARE server controls access to the Jobs Information libraries.

PC Client to Windows NT Server with Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking

[PC Client to Windows NT Server with Support for Job Scheduling and Tracking]

Remote Metadata: UNIX or NT Server to Like Server

A server-to-like-server configuration--an NT Server to an NT Server, or a UNIX host to a UNIX host--is also possible. For example, in a UNIX configuration, SAS/Warehouse Administrator is installed on one or more UNIX hosts, and its metadata is installed on another UNIX host. This configuration is another solution for projects that require concurrent read/write access to the metadata repositories by multiple SAS/Warehouse Administrator users.

Excluding the operating systems, the software that is required to implement this configuration is similar to that described in Remote Metadata: PC Client to Windows NT Server.

Top of Page