James works at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where he has been for most of the last eleven years. Before that he was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. He is a prior SQL Server MVP with over 40 years of IT experience. Check out his book Deciphering Data Architectures: Choosing Between a Modern Data Warehouse, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Mesh.
When using the Tabular model in SSAS, the deployment options screen offers four choices for “Query Mode”: DirectQuery, DirectQuery with In-Memory, In-Memory, In-Memory with DirectQuery. Query Mode is used to specify the source from which query results are returned when … Continue reading →
Microsoft has posted ALL the session videos for TechEd North America 2012 and they are available for free! What a great way to learn all about SQL Server 2012. Check them out here. Also check out the Top 10 Lists for … Continue reading →
Having done a number of presentations, I have accumulated a list of items to go over before each presentation to make sure I am full prepared: Bring my laptop that has my PowerPoint presentation, mouse, powercord If the in-person session … Continue reading →
Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services (MDS) is a Master Data Management (MDM) product from Microsoft. Master Data Services is the rebranding of the Stratature MDM product titled +EDM, which Microsoft acquired in June 2007. Master Data Services is architecturally … Continue reading →
I have a desktop computer, a laptop, and a iPhone. I frequently add meetings to my Outlook calender on my desktop computer, but sometimes enter them on my laptop. And I frequently use my iPhone to alert me about upcoming … Continue reading →
Columnstore indexes are built and processed completely in memory. You will receive an out-of-memory error if you do not have enough memory to build the columnstore index. Column store processing is optimized for in-memory processing, however, they do not reside in memory … Continue reading →
If you are using the Tabular model in SSAS, it will use the xVelocity technology to load your entire database in memory (greatly compressing the database). So what happens if your database is too big to fit in memory? You … Continue reading →
A big headache in SSAS, especially when dealing with a large cube, is making a change that when deployed, causes a cube to become unprocessed, forcing you to do a full process so the cube is usable. Nothing is worse … Continue reading →
I see a lot of confusion on what exactly is the difference between a data warehouse and a data mart. The best definition that I have heard of a data warehouse is: “A relational database schema which stores historical data … Continue reading →
I have previously blogged about Fast Track Data Warehouse, a reference configuration optimized for data warehousing (see Microsoft SQL Server Reference Architecture and Appliances). That was version 3.0 of the reference configuration that was for SQL Server 2008 R2. Just released … Continue reading →
I received this error the other day when trying to process a particular SSAS cube: Error 18 File system error: The following file is corrupted: Physical file: file:///\\%3f\E:\SQL\OLAP\Data\Options”>\\?\E:\SQL\OLAP\Data\Options BI QA.0.db\Dim Date.0.dim\1.Year No.bstore. Logical file . 0 0 I also could … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation “Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes” at Houston SQLSaturday. Here is the PowerPoint presentation: Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes Learn how SQL Server 2008 can … Continue reading →
As a follow-up to my SQL Server 2012: New Certification Info, Microsoft Learning has announced the certification tracks for the SQL Server 2012 exams. There are new names for the certifications: Your first step is to achieve Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA). If … Continue reading →
I will be speaking at the Houston SQLSaturday this upcoming Saturday (April 21st). Below is info on my session, which is at 4pm. I hope you can be there! Scaling SQL Server to HUNDREDS of Terabytes Learn how SQL Server … Continue reading →
SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) is a Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) replacement, meaning it has a suite of Visual Studio 2010 add-in tools for building Integration Services (SSIS), Analysis Services (SSAS) & Reporting Services (SSRS) solutions (let’s call that … Continue reading →
I blogged previously that when you are a consultant or contractor, you can sometimes be faced with the decision when taking a new contract of whether to go 1099 or W-2 (Consultants: 1099 or W-2?). However, some staffing firms or clients … Continue reading →
When creating a new cube in SSAS, you are frequently making changes that cause the whole cube to reprocess when you use the “Deploy” option (such as structure changes or aggregation design changes). This means a lot of sitting around … Continue reading →
Now that SQL Server 2012 RTM is out, I have an update to my blog post SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Installing on a Virtual Machine, which was for CTP3. Here is the version for the RTM: The steps below are what … Continue reading →
To expand on what I talked about in SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Details on the next version of SSAS, there is a new data model called Tabular. So when you are creating a new project, which model should you use, Multidimensional … Continue reading →
My previous blog, SQL Server 2012 (“Denali”): Details on the next version of SSAS, talked about the major new feature in SSAS, which is BISM. But what other changes are there? Well, not much. Here are details on the few changes … Continue reading →