Data in the SAS Intelligence Platform

Multidimensional Databases (Cubes)

Multidimensional databases (cubes) are another storage option provided by the SAS Intelligence Platform. Cubes provide business users with multiple views of their data through drill-down capabilities.

Cubes are derived from source data such as SAS tables, SAS SPD Engine tables, and SAS/ACCESS database tables. To create cube definitions, and to build cubes based on these definitions, you can use the Cube Designer wizard, which is available from SAS Data Integration Studio and SAS OLAP Cube Studio.

Cubes are managed by the SAS OLAP Server, which is a multi-user, scalable server designed to store and access large volumes of data while maintaining system performance.

The SAS OLAP Server uses a SAS engine that organizes data into a streamlined file format. This file format enables the engine to rapidly deliver data to client applications. The engine also reads and writes partitioned tables, which enables it to use multiple CPUs to perform parallel I/O functions. The threaded model enables the SAS OLAP Server to create and query aggregations in parallel for fastest performance.

SAS business intelligence applications perform queries against the cubes by using the multidimensional expression (MDX) query language. Cubes can be accessed by client applications that are connected to the SAS OLAP Server with the following tools:

the SQL Pass-Through Facility for OLAP, which is designed to process MDX queries within the PROC SQL environment
open access technologies such as OLE DB for OLAP and ADO MD

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