Post reply

What is the relationship between reporting and analysis services?

  • April 24, 2008 at 3:45 pm

    #189812

    What's the relationship between SSRS and SSAS? Can I put them on the same server or is it recommended I put them on separate servers?

    What is the best configuration to set both of them up? Lastly are there any risks with having both SSRS and SSAS?

  • May 22, 2008 at 7:50 am

    #819134

    Put them on seperate servers if you can.

    SSAS can use up alot of memory... and if you're relying on your reports real time then you wont' want a box that's eating up resources. imo

  • May 23, 2008 at 8:38 am

    #819722

    Basically, Report Services is a "web product" that renders data in HTML (through IIS) and Analysis Services is a OLAP product (calculation engine with data storage) that optimizes the calculations and retrieval of information (similiar to but different from a DBMS).

    RS and AS will live quite happily on the same box, but much depends on your usage and size of the box. In development / test go ahead an put them on the same machine, until you gain a better understanding of your use and requirements. Then you can easily scale out (most likely your AS implementation).

    AS will indeed consume large amounts of memory, as your data sources grow. As well, CPU disk utilizations will grow with your data sources. Separating (or at least creating isolation layers) between your IIS environment and your backend data services is always a good idea, particularily in production.

    There's alot involved in calculating (and designing) your AS environment. However, Ive found that the following "rules of thumb" generally let me do some quick estimates:

    - The cube size is generally around 1/10 the database size. It can of course vary highly from this number.

    - MSAS makes heavy use of the system file cache to hold content in memory. For your server, use a preliminary memory estimate of 1/2 the space associated with your cube. (Accounts for MSAS + cache)

    - For larger cubes, make sure you go 64 bit. You'll need to run IIS in 32 bit mode, unless ALL of your IIS pieces can run in 64 bit (check carefully).

    - For every two concurrent users, make sure you have a CPU.

    These estimates are VERY ROUGH, but give you a general idea of what you can expect in terms of hardware requirements. If the actual demand levels are quite low (i.e. small cube), then MSAS will live quite happily with MSRS.

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply