Rob Kerr, MCDBA, MCTS is a Principal Consultant for BlueGranite, a Microsoft Business Intelligence Gold Partner. The views expressed in this blog are his own and are not reviewed or endorsed by BlueGranite or Microsoft.
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Scripting Analysis Services Database Backup

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 schedul... [More]
Posted:8/30/08, 21:19 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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SQL Server 2008 Continues to raise the bar as a BI platform

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 w... [More]
Posted:8/17/08, 17:46 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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Eliminating the reporting treadmill with Business Intelligence

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 ti... [More]
Posted:8/17/08, 17:23 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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Checklist for Installing and Configuring Windows 2008 Hyper-V

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    ... [More]
Posted:8/14/08, 12:05 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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Using 7200RPM External Drives for Demo VMs

In my work I often use Microsoft VirtualPC on my laptop to demonstrate software for clients and to conduct training.  Most anyone who's used a VPC to do a demonstration of server-based products--the kind that should be deployed on "real servers"--has at some point had the u... [More]
Posted:8/9/08, 01:28 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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Updated Windows Installer Needed for SQL Server 2008 Client Components

Windows 2008 shipped recently, and I've been updating my field kit with all of the various installation media and supplemental programs needed for client site deployments. One issue I ran into is when installing the Books Online standalone package on my Vista x64 laptop: "This... [More]
Posted:8/9/08, 00:11 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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Windows Firewall and SQL Server 2008

Recently I've been working on deployments of Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008.  I thought I'd start to post some of the nuances of these new product editions.  One of the first things to encounter is, not surprisingly, security.  Security is always loads of fun ... [More]
Posted:7/21/08, 01:58 by Rob | 0 Comments
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Data-driven Time filters in PerformancePoint M&A

Recently I've been working on methods to display time filters in PerformancePoint M&A that are more user-friendly and efficient for users.  The conventional alternatives--Member Selection, Time Intelligence Post-Back and Time Intelligence Filter--have their strengths, and all of them ... [More]
Posted:6/2/08, 01:32 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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Little a vs. Big A

When planning a deployment of PerformancePoint Monitoring & Analytics (PPS M&A), an often overlooked component in the business solution is the ProClarity Analytics Server (PAS) application layer.   PAS is sometimes not deployed by customers, and their analysts are... [More]
Posted:5/24/08, 11:13 by Rob | 0 Comments
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Microsoft BI with Constrained Kerberos Delegation

In a Microsoft BI environment, we very often want to grant data visibility permissions at the datebase level.  The most common way to accomplish this is to use Kerberos delegation.  In Active Directory, delegation comes in two flavors: Constrained and Unconstrained. Constraine... [More]
Posted:5/17/08, 23:40 by keruibo | 0 Comments
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