Chapter 2. Cubes, Dimensions, and Measures
Cubes, dimensions, and measures are the fundamental parts of any OLAP solution. Let's consider the array of spreadsheets from Chapter 1, shown here again in Figure 2-1. At the most basic, the whole collection is a cube. In this chapter, you'll look at how this model relates to the concepts you need to grasp in order to understand OLAP and Analysis Services.
Figure 2.1. A cube
Cubes and Their Components
A cube is a collection of numeric data organized by arrays of discrete identifiers. Cubes were created to give a logical structure to the pivot table approach to analyzing large amounts of numerical data.
Get Pro SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
