Azure Analysis Services

Azure Analysis Services is a fully managed platform as a service (PaaS) that provides enterprise-grade data warehousing capabilities. It helps you build semantic models that deliver business intelligence insights by aggregating large amounts of raw data into meaningful structures.

Key Concepts

Azure Analysis Services allows you to define and manage tabular or multidimensional data models. These models provide a layer of abstraction over your raw data, enabling users to query and analyze information more efficiently. Key components include:

• Tabular Models: In-memory databases optimized for analytical workloads, offering high performance and ease of use.
• Multidimensional Models: Traditional OLAP cubes offering rich hierarchical structures and powerful aggregations.
• Data Sources: Connect to various Azure data sources (e.g., Azure SQL Database, Azure Data Lake) and on-premises sources.
• Measures and Calculations: Define complex business logic using DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) or MDX (Multidimensional Expressions).
• Roles and Permissions: Secure your models by assigning users and groups to specific roles with defined read/write access.

Getting Started

To begin using Azure Analysis Services, you'll need an Azure subscription. You can then create an Analysis Services instance through the Azure portal. The following resources will help you get started:

• Create an Azure Analysis Services server
• Tutorial: Create a tabular model in Azure Analysis Services

Learn More

Dive deeper into specific areas of Azure Analysis Services with our comprehensive documentation:

• Data Modeling Best Practices
• Managing and Monitoring Your Service
• Optimizing Query Performance