Introduction

Analyzing and understanding your data are the roles of SQL Server 2000 s enhanced OLAP and new data-mining components. Renamed Analysis Services in SQL Server 2000, online analytical processing (OLAP) services have been enhanced to provide greater capability and scalability. Enhancements such as distributed partitioned cubes, indexed views, dimension enhancements, real-time OLAP, and security enhancements are only a few of the changes that have shaped the new Analysis Services for SQL Server 2000. New tools and wizards break down some of the previous barriers that have kept smaller organizations from taking advantage of OLAP for decision support and analysis. Creating cubes, fundamental components of OLAP, is now possible using step-by-step wizards as well as the cube editor utility for advanced users. Enhancements to Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) and the new MDX Builder utility assist users in querying OLAP solutions and discovering the data without complete understanding of MDX syntax.

An exciting addition to SQL Server 2000 is the new data-mining capability in Analysis Services. Data mining in SQL Server 2000 allows organizations to discover data relationships and trends in both their relational data and OLAP cubes. Understanding data relationships can help organizations make informative predictions of future activity and respond to those trends. This is fundamental to many organizations such as ecommerce and traditional retail companies, which can benefit from a better understanding of users, purchase trends, marketing response, and more. The possibilities for an accessible data-mining solution are endless, and many organizations that have not been able to take...