This section describes the components of Analysis Center.
A Data Mart is a SQL Server database that Analysis Center creates for each AppManager Data Source. A Data Mart collects and processes data from Data Sources, and then stores it in fact and dimension tables to be used by the Data Warehouse. A Data Mart serves several purposes:
Stores the data copied from the source databases for processing.
Stored procedures process the copied data.
Fact and dimension tables store the processed data.
The fact tables function as a component of the Data Warehouse.
The SQL Server agent copies the data from the Data Source to the Data Mart, and thereafter to the Data Warehouse, by using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) packages.
The Data Warehouse is made up of two relational databases and a multidimensional database. The AC_Warehouse and AC_OLAP databases are used for AppManager reporting.
The relational database AC_Configuration supports administrative functions implemented from the Analysis Center Console. The information in the Configuration database includes:
Analysis Center security information, such as the level of privileges for each Analysis Center role and which users are assigned to which roles.
Connection information: the SQL server and database names used during the generation of AppManager reports.
The status of the SSIS packages that are responsible for copying data from one database to another.
The status of scheduled reports.
Custom schedule configuration.
The relational database AC_Warehouse serves as the immediate source of data for the multidimensional database. The relational database is managed by Microsoft SQL Server, and contains, among other things, the dimensional data copied from the Data Marts and views linked to the fact tables in the Data Marts.
The multidimensional database AC_OLAP is managed by Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services, and contains aggregations (for example, maximum, minimum, average) of the data copied from the source databases. These aggregated values are stored in cubes designed to facilitate the rapid query of large amounts of data.
Each Data Mart contains the following cubes:
Data organized by the local time on the AppManager computer
Data organized by the UTC time (Greenwich Mean Time).
A cube is a structure for data that uses hierarchical dimensions as an organizing principle. Dimensions describe data from a particular point of view (for example, the computer and application from which it was generated, or the date and time during which it was generated). The hierarchical structure of dimensions allows you to select data from any point in the hierarchy (for example, all data generated during 2005; all data generated during December 2005; or all data generated December 1, 2005). Given this structure and organization of aggregate values, you can, for example, create reports for:
The average, minimum, and maximum use of memory resources by all Exchange Servers for the year 2005.
The average growth rate for all SQL Server databases for the month of December 2005.
The average daily use of CPU for all Domino servers for 2004 and 2005.
The Analysis Center Web Service authenticates Console and Data Extension connections established during report generation and runs the SQL queries that gather report data.
SQL Reporting Services is a Microsoft addition to SQL Server that facilitates the creation, management, and delivery of reports. The Data Extension is a NetIQ addition that allows Analysis Center reports to be displayed within SQL Reporting Services.
The Console is the Analysis Center user interface, from which you perform administrative functions and generate reports. For more information, see Section 3.0, Installing Analysis Center. The Analysis Center administrative functions include:
Defining Analysis Center users, groups, and permissions sets.
For AppManager repositories, setting the schedules for how often data is copied to the Analysis Center Data Warehouse and reconciling resource identities so each computer in an enterprise has a single identity.
You run reports from the Console by setting the report context, and then viewing the results. The context controls for a report let you:
Select the data streams and computers
Specify the time frame
Select which measures of the data you want for your report (for example, average, minimum, maximum)