Concept confused... Please help

Sorry for this dump question!!!
I am confused with the concept...
I install a SQL Server and Analysis Services at home and I would like to
play around the Analysis Serverices function.
I need to build the datawarehouse on SQL Server and use Analysis Services to
Gerenrate the Queries I want in Analysis Services from datawarehouse. Am i
right?
I thought I was in the wrong impression that everything is done in Analysis
Services for datawarehouse...
I am assuming that I need to create a new database called Northwind_DW and
start to create e.g. 4 dimension tables and 1 fact table + 5 Staging tables.
Then I extract data from the Northwind database and put the data into 5
staging tables and massage the data then dump the data into the 4 dimension
tables and 1 fact table.
If this is the case, this should call a DataMart not DataWarehouse, am I
right?
Finally, I should use Analysis Services to retrieve the data from those 5
tables to build cube and pre-calulated number for the reporting puposes...
Am I right?
Well... I know this may be a long message, but I do thanks for your help
Ed
Your understanding is correct. Usually the data in the database is
transaction-based, meaning is changes frequently and has a heavy load of
real-time user access. Once your data is set and does not change as much -
it can be exported into a separate database, serving as a relational data
source for your data mart/data warehouse. Usually such databases are
designed according to star schema with fact tables and dimensions, that is
why you often would create temporary staging tables which would help you
reorganize data. Then you use your database as a source for your Analysis
Services Cubes and Dimensions.
Having a data warehouse/data mart usually helps offload your report-oriented
users from the live database, meaning they will not slow down your system
passing in large queries.
Whereas a data warehouse combines databases across an entire enterprise,
data marts are usually smaller and focus on a particular subject or
department. Some data marts, called dependent data marts, are subsets of
larger data warehouses. You can read more about the difference here:
http://www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleId=1675
Regards,
Ilona Shulman
Senior Development Consultant, DBA
SSE Inc
http://www.sseinc.com
"Ed" <Ed@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A9330538-9D99-4801-8791-A8A4A00F51CD@.microsoft.com...
> Sorry for this dump question!!!
> I am confused with the concept...
> I install a SQL Server and Analysis Services at home and I would like to
> play around the Analysis Serverices function.
> I need to build the datawarehouse on SQL Server and use Analysis Services
to
> Gerenrate the Queries I want in Analysis Services from datawarehouse. Am
i
> right?
> I thought I was in the wrong impression that everything is done in
Analysis
> Services for datawarehouse...
> I am assuming that I need to create a new database called Northwind_DW and
> start to create e.g. 4 dimension tables and 1 fact table + 5 Staging
tables.
> Then I extract data from the Northwind database and put the data into 5
> staging tables and massage the data then dump the data into the 4
dimension
> tables and 1 fact table.
> If this is the case, this should call a DataMart not DataWarehouse, am I
> right?
> Finally, I should use Analysis Services to retrieve the data from those 5
> tables to build cube and pre-calulated number for the reporting
puposes...
> Am I right?
> Well... I know this may be a long message, but I do thanks for your help
> Ed
>