The following issue is a problem in SSAS that you might run into either in test or deployment environments (see references). 

In a nutshell, when a client session running Vista or Windows 2008 talks over the network to an SSAS server running on Windows 2008, and they use Kerberos for authentication, there likely will at some point be connectivity problems that resemble timeout or firewall blocking problems. 

Errors might look like one of the following:

The connection either timed out or was lost.
Unable to read data from the transport connection: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host

The two places we’ve observed these problems are:

1.       MDX queries submitted to the server that are reasonably large, such as those PPS submits, or perhaps those coded by hand that become large.  “Large” might be something like 1000 bytes or so.

2.       Deploying databases over the network from a Vista/2008 client to a 2008 server.

This problem still exists as of SQL 2008 SP1, so applying that update isn’t a resolution. This problem definitely exists when client & server are on different machines; may not be a problem when client/server are on the same computer (e.g. VPC or BIDS on a remote desktop session). 

From what I understand, MS is aware of this and we should expect a post-SP1 CU soon.  Whether this is to be resolved as a Windows patch or a SSAS patch is unclear to me. 

The following are work-arounds in the mean-time:

1.       If either the server or client is running XP or Windows 2003, the problem should not occur in any case.

2.       If you can edit the connect string (e.g. SSRS/Excel), specify ;SSPI=NTLM as a parameter.    Be advised that user security delegation will not succeed if this workaround is used.

3.       Connect with the IP address instead of machine name or FQDN.  Since Kerberos is unsupported with IP address connections, this also forces a fallback to NTLM.  Kerberos delegation also will not succeed when this workaround is used.

 Of particular note is that if SSAS is to be deployed on a Windows 2008 server, all available workarounds currently imply kerberos delegation will be impossible (a short-term driver for SSAS deployment on Server 2003?). 

 References:

http://blogs.msdn.com/psssql/archive/2009/04/03/errors-may-occur-after-configuring-analysis-services-to-use-kerberos-authentication-on-advanced-encryption-standard-aware-operating-systems.aspx

http://denglishbi.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!CD3E77E793DF6178!1214.entry

http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/drjohn/archive/2009/03/28/kerberos-kills-large-mdx-queries-on-windows-server-2008-ssas.aspx

I've been heavily involved in PerformancePoint implementations since the beginning of that product's lifecycle...our company has done many deployments for clients.  It's a great dashboarding technology, and I'm continually amazed how quickly we can put together compelling solutions with it.  The efficiency and elegance of the underlying design strikes a great balance between power and simplicity of use. 

 Recently Microsoft folded this product into SharePoint as part of the Enterprise CAL.  The net effect for eCal customers is a "free" enterprise-class BI platform; and for customers that would have invested in the BI platform anyway--all the benefits of eCal, including Business Data Catalog, Excel Services and so on.

Here's a Silverlight video going into some additional detail of the benefits of combining PerformancePoint's monitoring & analytics with SharePoint:

 

 

Server core is a lightweight, capable edition of Windows Server 2008.  A lot of baggage isn't there, making more resources available for network applications, while reducing the attack surface area.

 Some GUI tools are still available, but one of them that's not is a facility to manage the Windows Update process on the server console.  Arguably a sophisticated infrastructure wouldn't need this, and could use WSUS instead.  However there are those servers that need some administrative looking-after.

 A script to manually drive the windows update process for critical updates is available from Microsoft--follow this link.

 The script is dead easy to use, just copy to a server core machine and run using cscript.

A while ago Ken Schaefer posted some great documentation on Kerberos delegation.  His series is titled IIS (Internet Information Services) and Kerberos FAQ.  This is a great backgrounder, and a nice guide on advanced delegation concepts.

A while ago Ken Schaefer posted some great documentation on Kerberos delegation.  His series is titled IIS (Internet Information Services) and Kerberos FAQ.  This is a great backgrounder, and a nice guide on advanced delegation concepts.

Just as with other BI front-end technologies in a Microsoft environment, Excel Services worksheets that access back-end data (e.g. Cubes, Databases) require Kerberos delegation configuration.  However, most MOSS installations are initially configured for NTLM security, and making the transition over to Kerberos becomes a challenge since all the things done by installer programs have to be done by hand.

 If you're trying to get your Excel Services worksheets to refresh to a back-end database and receive "Data Refresh Failed" error messages, odds are Excel Services hasn't been configured to delegate security. 

 1. Open Command Prompt
 2. cd C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
 3. stsadm -o set-ecssecurity -accessmodel delegation -ssp SharedServices1
 4. stsadm -o execadmsvcjobs
 5. iisreset

In the interest of giving credit where due, thanks to Gunter Staes (http://blogs.msdn.com/gunterstaes) for the original command sequence some time back.

There are a number of ways to automate backups of Analysis Services databases.  Some examples I've seen: SSIS Packages, PowerShell, SQL Agent jobs with XMLA. 

Here is a "quick and dirty" way using a .vbs cscript that can be called form the operating system, or scheduled in SQL Agent as a cmdexec step. This script will backup all Analysis Services databases programatically (i.e. if someone adds a new database, it will automatically be backed-up without further operational changes).

I'm not saying this is the best way to do this, and the script below completely lacks error trapping.  But it is effective, simple to implement, and may form a good base for a robust script in your environment.

 

 '-------------  Get the target folder from the command-line  -----------
 strBackupPath = WScript.Arguments.Named.Item("folder")
 WScript.echo "Destination folder: " & strBackupPath 

 if strBackupPath = "" then
    wScript.Echo "'folder' parameter resulted in a blank string"
    WScript.Echo "Usage: cscript BackupSSAS.vbs /folder:<full path to backup folder>"
    WScript.Quit 1
 end if


 strBackupPath = strBackupPath + "\"


 '-------------- Get TimeStamp in form YYYYMMDDhhmmss  -------------
 MyTimestamp = CStr(Year(Now()) * 10000 + Month(Now()) * 100 + Day(Now())) _
   + CStr(Hour(Now()) * 10000 + Minute(Now()) * 100 + Second(Now()))  
 
 '-------------  Connect to SSAS Instance  --------------------
 Set ssas = CreateObject("Microsoft.AnalysisServices.Server")
 ssas.Connect("localhost")


 '-----------  Backup Databases   -------------------------
 For Each MyDatabase In ssas.Databases
     MyDatabase.Backup strBackupPath + MyDatabase.Name + "_" + MyTimestamp + ".abf"
 Next
 
 '------------  Disconnect from SSAS Instance  -----------------
 ssas.Disconnect()

Microsoft recently released the latest version of its SQL Server platform: SQL Server 2008. Like its predecessors, the new release is a bundle of components that work together to deliver a seamless and integrated BI platform.

The 2008 version includes numerous performance enhancements that will enable the new version to address even larger data volumes at higher performance levels than before. In addition to performance enhancements come new functionality and ease-of-use enhancements that will appeal to new and existing SQL users.

For new deployments, SQL 2008’s new features and higher performance levels probably means there’s no reason to deploy older versions. For existing SQL 2000 and SQL 2005 customers, migration effort will depend on the specifics of each deployment, but the overall improvements will likely prove to make the migration worthwhile.

Business Intelligence (BI) often invokes images of sophisticated, complex technologies that organizations sometimes feel they’re “not ready for yet”.  Often this comes from a feeling that we’re so busy just keeping up with user requests that there’s not enough time available to get to the next level or assimilate new technologies.

For organizations that are heavily dependent on information, part of the overwhelmed feeling stems from what sometimes is called the reporting treadmill—that feeling that every completed report or information extract request generates two additional requests.

While BI initiatives are often geared toward strategic initiatives—such as performance management, business analytics or financial budgeting/planning—the tactical and operational benefits of even a modest BI implementation are just as important.  One operational impact often realized is a reduction in time spent by IT specialists designing custom reports, and a subsequent redeployment of those staffers to more value-added activities.

By using BI-enabled applications along with a well-designed multi-dimensional data model, end-users become more empowered than ever before to dig out answers to their questions directly (and more quickly), rather than relying on data specialists. Moreover, these centralized data marts provide one-stop shopping and a single version of the truth that’s hard to achieve with dozens or hundreds of individual, customized reports.

For IT, the reduced time spent designing reports is available for other activities—like advanced data modeling, data mining and data integration—all activities that provide yet more resources for business users.

A well-planned, strategic BI implementation provides a business-changing paradigm shift in how organizations use information.  However, even when a strategic investment isn’t in the cards, more modest ones can yield real, measurable benefits—and provide foundational experience for a future strategic BI implementation.

1. Install Server 2008 Core x64 from DVD Media
 
2. Rename computer to new name
   Netdom renamecomputer %computername% /newname:SERVER1
 
3. Lookup the name of the network interface
  netsh interface ipv4 show interface
 
4. Assign IPv4 Address
   netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”Local Area Connection 2”
   source=static address=192.168.3.1 mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=255.255.255.0 1
 
5. Assign DNS servers
 Netsh interface ipv4 add dns name=”Local Area Connection” 192.168.3.5
 Netsh interface ipv4 add dns name=”Local Area Connection” 192.168.3.6 index=2
  
6. Join the domain
   netdom join %ComputerName% /domain:INTRANET /userd:<domain\user> /passwordd:*
 
7. Reboot windows (if not prompted)
   shutdown -r -t 0
 
8. After reboot, enable remote administration
   netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Remote Administration" new enable=yes
   netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)" new enable=yes
 
9. Enable remote desktop from any client type
   Cscript %windir%\system32\SCRegEdit.wsf /cs 0
   Cscript %windir%\system32\SCRegEdit.wsf /ar 0
   netsh firewall set service type=remotedesktop mode=enable
 
10. Add Hyper-V Role
   bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto
   start /w ocsetup Microsoft-Hyper-V
 
11. Update Hyper-V
   Run the file: 
   mu_update_for_windows_server_2008_kb950050_x64.msu

12. Activate Windows
   cscript %WinDir%\System32\slmgr.vbs -ato
 
12a. If windows won't activate and needs a VLK changed to a MAK
   start /w slmgr.vbs -ipk FFFFF-FFFFF-FFFFF-FFFFF-FFFFF
   start /w slmgr.vbs -ato
   (careful, the feedback popups sometimes popup behind the DOS window, so move it around before re-entering the command over and over)
 
13. Reboot windows (if not prompted)
   Shutdown -r -t 0

14. Install remote admin tools for Hyper-V
   Install the following on your desktop (choose depending on whether you run Vista x86 or x64)
   Hyper-V_Admin_Windows6.0-KB952627-x64.msu (Vista x64 Client)
   Hyper-V_Admin_Windows6.0-KB952627-x86.msu (Vista x86 Client)
   mu_update_for_windows_server_2008_kb950050_x86.msu  (Server 2008 x86)

15. Add the Hyper-V snap in to an MMC.exe instance on your desktop, connect to the Hyper-V virtual server from there, and you're off to the races!