Welcome to Azure Analysis Services
Azure Analysis Services provides enterprise-grade semantic modeling capabilities. It allows you to create semantic models (tabular models) that act as a central source of truth for your business intelligence applications. This guide will walk you through the initial steps to get started.
Prerequisites
- An Azure subscription. If you don't have one, create a free account.
- Permissions to create and manage resources in your Azure subscription.
- Basic understanding of data modeling and BI concepts.
Step 1: Create an Azure Analysis Services Server
The first step is to provision an Analysis Services server in your Azure subscription. This server will host your semantic models.
Using the Azure Portal
- Sign in to the Azure portal.
- Click Create a resource.
- Search for Analysis Services and select it.
- Click Create.
- Fill in the required details:
- Subscription: Select your Azure subscription.
- Resource group: Create a new one or select an existing one.
- Server name: Enter a unique name for your server.
- Location: Choose a region close to your users or other Azure resources.
- Pricing tier: Select a tier based on your performance and capacity needs (e.g., Developer, Basic, Standard).
- Admin: Specify a user or group that will have administrator privileges on the server.
- Review the settings and click Create.
Using Azure CLI
You can also create a server using the Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI). Ensure you have the Azure CLI installed and are logged in.
az aas server create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name myaas-server-name --location westeurope --sku L100 --administrator "myadmin@mydomain.com"Replace MyResourceGroup, myaas-server-name, westeurope, and myadmin@mydomain.com with your specific values.
Step 2: Connect to Your Server
Once your server is deployed, you can connect to it using tools like SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or Visual Studio with Analysis Services projects.
Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
- Download and install the latest version of SQL Server Management Studio.
- Launch SSMS.
- In the Connect to Server dialog box, for Server type, select Analysis Services.
- For Server name, enter the full server name of your Azure Analysis Services server (e.g.,
my-aas-server.asazure.windows.net). - For Authentication, select Active Directory - Universal with MFA support or Windows Authentication if connecting from an Azure AD joined machine.
- Click Connect.
Step 3: Create Your First Semantic Model
With your server set up, you're ready to create your first semantic model. This typically involves connecting to data sources, defining tables, relationships, and measures.
Using Visual Studio with Analysis Services Projects
- Install Visual Studio with the Analysis Services projects extension.
- Create a new Analysis Services Tabular Project.
- In the project, right-click on Data Sources and select Add Data Source.
- Choose your data source type (e.g., SQL Server, Azure SQL Database).
- Configure the connection string and credentials.
- Right-click on Models and select Add Model.
- Use the Model Designer to import tables, create relationships, and write DAX measures.
- Right-click on the project and select Deploy to deploy your model to your Azure Analysis Services server.
Next Steps
- Explore DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) for creating powerful calculations.
- Learn about tabular model metadata and how to manage it.
- Integrate your semantic model with Power BI or other BI tools.
- Understand security and access control for your models.
This guide provides a starting point. Dive deeper into the documentation to unlock the full potential of Azure Analysis Services.