Although packaged with the relational database engine, Microsoft Analysis Services (MSAS) works very differently from other technologies making up SQL Server. MSAS has matured over multiple releases and experienced wide adoption over a relatively short time span. Recent versions of MSAS provide better tools and more guidance for performance tuning than their predecessors.

SQL Server Analysis Services Articles

• Overview
  • MSAS 2000 Database Backups
  • MSAS 2005 Database Backups
• Building MSAS Dimensions - Overview
  • Member Properties
  • Dimension Types
  • Dimension Properties
  • Building Dimension Hierarchies
  • Processing Dimensions
  • Dimension Level Properties
  • Managing Dimensions with MSAS 2005
• Cubes:
  • Managing Cubes with MSAS 2000
  • Managing Cubes with MSAS 2005
• Data Mining with Excel - includes a four-minute introductory video on how to set up Excel 2007 with SSAS.
• Data Mining the StackOverflow Database - StackOverflow, a community question-and-answer site, grants public access to their database. Learn how to import this data and query it.
• Data Warehousing Concepts - Overview
  • Dimensions & Measures
  • Fact and Dimension Tables
  • Star and Snowflake Schemas
  • Indexing Considerations
  • Slowly Changing Dimensions
  • Extraction, Transformation, and Loading
• MDX with Analysis Services - Overview
  • Basic MDX Concepts
  • Simple MDX Queries
  • More Advanced MDX Queries
  • WITH Clause
  • Calculated Members
  • Named Sets
  • MDX Built-In Functions
• Optimizing Performance of MSAS
  • Server Properties
  • Optimizing Processing
  • Optimizing Querying Performance
  • Using Profiler for Performance Monitoring
• Security for SQL Server Analysis Services - Overview
  • Managing Data Access with MSAS 2000
  • Managing Data Access with MSAS 2005

SQL Server Analysis Services Tutorial Videos

Solid Quality Mentors has produced a series of screencast videos to show how to get started with Microsoft Business Intelligence. These videos were provided for you courtesy of Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism:

• Introduction to Microsoft Business Intelligence
• Microsoft BI Platform Integration Tutorial
• Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Tools and Sample Databases
• Query-Driven Email Delivery System Tutorial
• How to Design Dimensions Tutorial
• Advanced Dimension Design Tutorial
• Using the SSAS Cube Wizard
• Cube Calculations Tutorial
• Designing Reports on the UDM
• Exploring Analysis Features of Microsoft Excel 2007
• More Analysis with Excel 2007
• Introducing Data Mining Tutorial
• Introducing the Table Analysis Tools for Excel 2007
• Building a PerformancePoint Scorecard Tutorial