Based upon previous efforts, I've been asked what are the ports involved with SQL Server/MOSS, so... here's a compiliation of the various ports used by SQL Server and Sharepoint when designing a Microsoft BI architecture. Enjoy!

Ok...I may be a little late to the game on this one, especially since this has been out for a few years, but I just ran across Visio's PivotDiagrams. What a great diagramming tool against SQL Server cubes, database, and Excel data. Think of ProClarity...

If you are having issues getting Analysis Services 2008 data being refreshed through Excel Services, take a look at the trusted providers within MOSS. By default, MOSS only trusts up to SQL Server 2005, simply because SQL Server 2008 wasn't out when MOSS...

Once you've installed SQL Server 2008's SP1 ( download here ), I'm sure you'll want to have Report Builder 2.0's click once feature activitated. By default, SSRS will still call Report Builder 1.0 application. Here are steps needed to enable click once...

If you building an environment with Kerberos Constrained Delegation, and have a named instance of Analysis Services, where your DC is running Windows Server 2003, take note. Having learned the hard way this week, there is a hot fix for Windows Server...

There are three fundamental methods for implementing reports against SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 list data: direct MOSS table query, web service query, and finally third party tools which implement the web service interfaces. Although the direct table...

While working on a proof this past week, I installed PerformancePoint 2007 SP2...wishing to use it with SQL Server 2008's Reporting Services. However, when creating a report which was of Reporting Services type, I recieved the following error - "Could...

Ok...so you are thinking about running a stress test against your Reporting Services 2008 environment, and you've setup your test harness (I'm biased to VS.NET Team Test 2008 with Load Agents) to use a single domain account. When you run your stress tests...

Well...if you haven't, don't worry it's on YouTube . Once you see it, you'll know why I love the ad spot...its a fresh, new image for our BI advertising. Hope you enjoy it! Watch the TV ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj3MHyXG0ao&e

Did you attend a SQL Server 2008 Roadshow in your nearest city? If you did, you got to hear about SQL Server 2008 and the new enhanced capabilities of the product. Covered in New York's SS2K8 Roadshow was security and database management, how to best...

For those that attended my session (Designing Effective Dashboards with Msft BI Platform) at the 2nd annual Msft BI Conference in Seattle, and had asked for the demo files/projects, you can download my demo files here . The zip file contains the SQL Server...

Just a friendly reminder that the 2nd Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference is only a week away, starting on October 6th. The conference is being held in Seattle. Come visit my session " Designing Effective Dashboards with the Microsoft Business...

For those that were looking for the latest Report Builder tool (for use with SQL Server 2008 RTM), look no further...its been published as a web released "released candidate" for a short while already. Get the download here . Want to know what's in...

Well...I came across this Dundas Gauge XML Template while researching an installation issue on a recent proof of concept. In a nutshell, if you are creating "Bullet Charts" for a dashboard type report within Reporting Services, and you're using Dundas...

Expanding upon the previous posts regarding SSAS 2005 functionality and performance testing with TD v12.0, a white paper I co-wrote on the topic has recently been made available up on Microsoft's Global ISV "Connector" site for Teradata ( http://www.microsoft...

I often get asked by organizations how they can leverage their SAP "data" investment against the Microsoft Business Intelligence suite of tools. The set of questions usually falls into one of these four categories: Ability to extract data directly...

Through conversations with many customers, I’ve been asked either directly or indirectly what makes a dashboard good in terms of design. Put it another way…what are some design best practices to make a dashboard more effective at conveying the “data”...

Here at the NY Microsoft Technology Center (NY MTC), we recently ran a series of SQL Server Upgrade/Application Compatibility Labs with various customers and ISVs. To learn more about the labs, watch this video blog entry shot during one of the actual...

The following techniques can help you to optimize the data files and temporary files used during processing: · Place the Analysis Services data files on a fast disk subsystem. The location of the data files is determined by the DataDir server...

Are you a DBA tasked with keeping a SQL Server 2005 based data warehouse/datamart performing properly? Are you looking for a no-cost method to analyze performance metrics of your server(s)? If so, the SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports are...

With Integration Services, Reporting Services, and Analysis Services, their respective business intelligence objects (packages, reports, and cubes) are designed through the Business Intelligence Design Studio (BIDS), which is really the Visual Studio...

Once you have identified potential Analysis Services bottlenecks, and have made the proper adjustments to Analysis Services server properties and perhaps added more memory/CPU power to the server, the next phase is to look into tuning the OLAP cube design...

Ok...here's part two of the Teradata v12 series. The first blog entry was focused on highlighting a sequence of functionality tests that were recently concluded back in February 2008 against Teradata version 12 using SQL Server 2005's Analysis Services...

This blog will be a two part series…culminating from my recent internal testing of Analysis Services with Teradata v12. The first blog entry in this series will be focused on highlighting a sequence of functionality tests that were recently concluded...

Well...this is certainly not a normal post. This is a snippet of code for a SQL Server 2005 lab that I'm assisting with...if your in the lab, copy/paste. It will help with the lab "typing". CREATE FUNCTION dbo.fn_ClassifyApps() RETURNS sysname WITH...