Previous Page | Next Page

Servers in the SAS Intelligence Platform

SAS Metadata Server


About the SAS Metadata Server

The SAS Metadata Server is a multi-user server that enables users to read metadata from and write metadata to one or more SAS Metadata Repositories. This server is a centralized resource for storing, managing, and delivering metadata for all SAS applications across the enterprise.


About the Metadata in the SAS Metadata Repository

Here are examples of the types of metadata objects that can be stored in the SAS Metadata Repository:

A metadata object is a set of attributes that describe a resource. Here are some examples:

The specific attributes that a metadata object includes vary depending on the resource that is being described. For example, a table object can include attributes for the table's name and description, path specification, host type, and associated SAS Application Server.

The SAS Metadata Server uses the SAS Open Metadata Architecture, which provide common metadata services to SAS and other applications. Third parties can access metadata in the SAS Metadata Server by using an application programming interface (API) that is supplied by SAS. SAS Metadata Bridges are available to support metadata exchange with a variety of sources, including the Common Warehouse Metadata Model (CWM).


How the Metadata Server Controls System Access

The SAS Metadata Server plays an important role in the security of the SAS Intelligence Platform. It controls system access in the following ways:

For more information about security in the SAS Intelligence Platform, see Security Overview.


How Metadata is Created and Administered

Metadata can be loaded to the SAS Metadata Server in several different ways:

System administrators also use SAS Management Console for general metadata administration tasks, including backing up the metadata server, creating new repositories, replicating existing repositories, promoting metadata objects, and maintaining authorization information and access rules for all types of resources.


How Business Metadata is Organized

A hierarchical folder structure is used to organize metadata for business intelligence content such as libraries, tables, jobs, cubes, information maps, and reports. The folder structure includes personal folders for individual users and a folder for shared data. Within this overall structure, you can create a customized folder structure that meets the information management, data sharing, and security requirements of your organization.

The Folders tab of SAS Management Console displays all SAS folders that the user has permission to view. Most other client applications display SAS folders only if they contain content that is relevant to the application, subject to the user's permissions. Import and export wizards in SAS Management Console, SAS Data Integration Studio, and SAS Web OLAP Viewer enable you to easily move or promote content from one part of the SAS Folders tree to another, or from a test environment to a production environment.

For more information about the SAS Metadata Server, see the SAS Intelligence Platform: System Administration Guide.

Previous Page | Next Page | Top of Page