How to handle SSRS multi-value parameter filtering in SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse August 23, 2018 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu Experienced business intelligence (BI) developers would tell you that as you move from one project to another, some requirements start becoming repetitive like you have dealt with them before. One such repetitive requirement occurs during SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) development wherein a client would request that a report parameter be configured to allow multiple values from a dataset that is populated by stored procedure, as illustrated in Figure 1. Read more »
Replace bridge tables in a Data Warehouse with SQL Server 2017 graph database March 8, 2018 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu Just like in Santa’s Bag of Goodies, every release of SQL Server often has something for everyone – be it enhancements to DMVs for the DBAs, new functions for T-SQL developers or new SSIS control tasks for ETL developers. Likewise, the ability to effectively support many-to-many relationships type in SQL Graph has ensured that there is indeed something in it for the data warehouse developers in SQL Server 2017. In this article, we take you through the challenges of modelling many-to-many relationships in relational data warehouse environments and later demonstrate how data warehouse teams can take advantage of the many-to-many relationship feature in SQL Server 2017 Graph Database to effectively model and support their data warehouse solutions. Read more »
Introduction to Azure SQL Data Warehouse August 29, 2017 by Minette Steynberg Introduction Azure SQL Data Warehouse is a new addition to the Azure Data Platform. When I first heard about it I wasn’t quite sure about what exactly it would be. As it turns out it is relational database for large amounts of database and really big queries as a service. This is essentially the equivalent of the APS (Analytics Platform System) in the cloud. Read more »
How to use Columnstore Indexes to improve your Data Warehouse Staging Environment May 4, 2017 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu My team and I were recently tasked with refactoring older data marts, particularly those that were created with SQL Server 2008 in mind. As we all know, SQL Server has undergone significant changes since the release of SQL Server 2008. One of those changes relates to the introduction of columnstore as an alternative to the traditional B-tree index (rowstore). Whilst most of the existing documentation relating to columnstore seem to focus on the benefit of columnstore against data warehouse workloads, in this article I argue that the usage of columnstore index should not be limited to facts and dimensions instead let’s introduce it in our data warehouse staging environments too. Read more »
SQL Server Data Warehouse design best practice for Analysis Services (SSAS) April 4, 2017 by Thomas LeBlanc Before jumping into creating a cube or tabular model in Analysis Service, the database used as source data should be well structured using best practices for data modeling. Some might say use Dimensional Modeling or Inmon’s data warehouse concepts while others say go with the future, Data Vault. No matter what conceptual path is taken, the tables can be well structured with the proper data types, sizes and constraints. Read more »
How to use Package Parts to develop easily maintainable Data Warehouse solutions March 24, 2017 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu Whilst discussing the evolution of SQL Server Data Tools in my previous article, I touched on a new feature, Package Parts, which is available in SSDT 2015. This article takes an in-depth analysis of the Package Parts feature, particularly, as it relates to Data Warehouse development. Read more »
Temporal Table applications in SQL Data Warehouse environments March 7, 2017 by Hans Michiels Today the subject of investigation is the Temporal Table, which is a new feature in SQL Server 2016. My focus will slightly be on how to use it in Data Warehouse environments, but there is some general information passing by as I write. Read more »
Two methods for restoring a data warehouse/data mart environment November 8, 2016 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu Implementing best data warehouse designs and practices such as data lineage reduces the need to ever have to restore an entire relational data warehouse. However, sometimes there are instances whereby you have inherited poorly designed data warehouse environments that leaves you with no other options but to perform an entire database restore in an event of a sudden disaster. I recently found myself in a similar situation of having to recover one of my data mart following a data integrity issue wherein all data of a type 1 dimension was updated/overwritten using an incorrect source file. In this article I take a look at how different approaches can be utilised to restore the compromised SQL Server-based data mart back to its “good state”. Read more »
Create Azure Data Warehouse reports using Azure Power BI April 11, 2016 by Daniel Calbimonte Introduction Power BI is an extremely powerful tool to create dashboards and reports. In the last article, we learned how to create a Data Warehouse in Azure. In this new chapter, we will learn how to create reports from the Data Warehouse in Azure using Power BI in Azure. Read more »
The new SQL Data warehouse in Azure March 8, 2016 by Daniel Calbimonte Introduction In previous chapters, we taught how to create SQL Databases in Azure. In this new chapter, we will show you the new SQL Data Warehouse Service in Azure. Read more »
SQL Server Business Intelligence – Expanding fact tables in an established data warehouse May 30, 2014 by Evan Barke Introduction As in often the case in life, things that sound simple are not always the easiest things to do. In computer science this is even more often the case. In fact, one of the most challenging things about information technology work is often the communication with bosses that know little about technology and require justification for time spent on seemingly simple tasks. However, by the same token, tasks that seem impossible to the untrained eye are often fairly straightforward and quick to implement and can earn you easy respect. Read more »
