All of the data sources
that are used in your deployment of the SAS Intelligence Platform
are centrally controlled through metadata that is stored in the SAS
Metadata Repository. In the metadata repository, you can create the
following types of metadata objects to control and manage your data:
-
database servers, which provide
relational database services to clients
-
SAS Application Servers, which
perform SAS processes on data
-
-
OLAP schemas, which specify which
groups of cubes a given SAS OLAP Server can access
-
dimensions and measures in a cube
-
libraries, which are collections
of one or more files that are recognized by SAS software and that
are referenced and stored as a unit
-
the data sources (for example,
SAS tables) that are contained in a library
-
the columns that are contained
in a data source
A variety of methods
are available to populate the metadata repository with these objects,
including the following:
-
The data source design
applications, SAS Data Integration Studio and SAS OLAP Cube Studio,
automate the creation of all of the necessary metadata about your
data sources. As you use these products to define warehouses, data
marts, and cubes, the appropriate metadata objects are automatically
created and stored in the metadata repository.
-
You can use the following features of SAS Management
Console to define data source objects:
-
The New Server Wizard enables you
to easily define the metadata for your database servers and SAS Application
Servers.
-
The Data Library Manager enables
you to define database schemas for a wide variety of schema types.
You can also use this feature to define libraries if you are not using
SAS Data Integration Studio to define them.
-
The Register Tables feature enables
you to import table definitions from external sources if you are not
using SAS Data Integration Studio to create them.
-
On the SAS Folders tab, you can
set permissions that secure access to metadata folders and objects.
Because all SAS Intelligence Platform applications use the metadata
server when accessing resources, permissions that are enforced by
the metadata server provide an effective level of protection. These
permissions supplement protections from the host environment and other
systems. Therefore, a user's ability to perform a particular action
is determined not only by metadata-based access controls but also
by external authorization mechanisms such as operating system permissions
and database controls.
-
You can use the metadata LIBNAME engine
to enforce data-related Read, Write, Create, and Delete access controls
that have been defined in metadata.
After your data sources
have been defined in metadata, you can use SAS Information Map Studio
to create SAS Information Maps, which are business metadata about
your data. Information maps enable you to surface your data in business
terms that typical business users understand, while storing key information
that is needed to build appropriate queries.
For detailed information
about administering data sources, see the
SAS Intelligence Platform: Data Administration Guide.