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ANALYTICS EXTENSION
User Manual
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Tandberg ANALYTICS EXTENSION User Manual

TANDBERG Analytics
Extension
Administrator guide
D14668.01
September 2010
Introduction
Contents
Contents............................................................................................................................... 2
Document Revision History ................................................................................................ 4
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5
New feature overview .............................................................................................................................. 5
Technical overview ............................................................................................................. 6
Analytics Extension components and roles ................................................................ ...... 7
Data warehouse server ........................................................................................................................... 8
Data warehouse database ............................................................................................................... 8
Data warehouse CUBE .................................................................................................................... 8
Data warehouse updates ................................................................................................................. 9
Service account permissions and uses ................................................................................................... 9
Data warehouse service user ........................................................................................................... 9
DWH TMS service user .................................................................................................................... 9
Adding and managing users .............................................................................................10
Analytics users ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Administrator roles ................................................................................................................................. 11
Analytics extension administrators ................................................................................................. 11
Analysis services server administrators ......................................................................................... 11
Web interface ......................................................................................................................12
Download excel sample files .......................................................................................................... 12
Log ETL jobs .................................................................................................................................. 12
Reconfiguring Analytics Extension ..................................................................................14
Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................15
Web site issues ..................................................................................................................................... 15
ETL job failures .............................................................................................................................. 15
Client Connectivity Issues ..................................................................................................................... 16
Microsoft Excel and Windows Authentication ................................................................................ 16
The LocaleIdentifier property.......................................................................................................... 17
Logs ....................................................................................................................................20
Application Logs ............................................................................................................................. 20
Database Logs ............................................................................................................................... 20
Setting up HTTP access to the CUBE ...............................................................................21
Installing IIS .................................................................................................................................... 21
Copying the pump binaries ............................................................................................................. 21
Creating an IIS application pool ..................................................................................................... 21
Setting up handler mappings.......................................................................................................... 22
Name extension ............................................................................................................................. 23
Introduction
Choosing an authentication mode .................................................................................................. 24
Setting msmdpump.dll as the default document ............................................................................ 24
Setting the target Analysis Services server .................................................................................... 25
Creating a domain service account and giving it read access to the cube .................................... 25
Verifying that the connection works ............................................................................................... 25
References and related documents ..................................................................................27
Licenses ..............................................................................................................................28
EULA ...................................................................................................................................32
Document Revision History
Rev 02
August 2010: Release of version 1.1
Rev 01
May 2010: Release of the Analysis Extension 1.0
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
This document describes the TANDBERG Analytics Extension. The TANDBERG Analytics Extension is an online analytical processing (OLAP) system for the
TANDBERG Management Suite (TMS) and provides advanced reporting functionality on your video network. It integrates with Business Intelligence (BI) applications, custom built applications, and other applications capable connecting to an OLAP cube such as Microsoft Excel.
The TANDBERG Analytics Extension API is described in a separate document, TANDBERG Analytics
Extension API Documentation.
This document, along with the installation guide, release notes, and other documentation can be found at the Support > Documentation section of http://www.tandberg.com.
New feature overview
Analytics Extension version 1.1 is a maintenance release, with additional Analytics Extension cube features, installer enhancements, and improved logging.
The main improvement to the cube is a new fact table; Fact MCU Utilization. This supersedes the old Fact MCU Load, which is no longer available. As a result, existing reports that use Fact MCU Load must be updated to use the new measures. Fact MCU Utilization basically the end user access to the same data as before, but with improved data quality. In addition, the new fact table contains aggregated data about MCU usage across the entire installation, and can filter results on arbitrary MCUs.
Two bracket dimensions have been introduced: Actual Duration Brackets and Actual System Count Brackets. Both apply to Fact Conference. Actual Duration Brackets shows the mode average (most common conference durations). Actual System Count breaks down conferences by the number of participants.
A new Persistent System dimension has been introduced. This dimension is a variant of the System dimension. Persistent System will always associate historical call data with the current system information. The Persistent System dimension has the exact same attributes and hierarchies as the System dimension. This means systems can be renamed without losing associated historical data.
The installer now creates logs automatically, and will expose the version number in the log files. Also, the installer will catch some common TMS and DWH SQL server configuration mistakes and warn the user accordingly.
The Microsoft Excel example reports have been updated and use more intuitive descriptions. The ETL job has been made more robust, and handles TMS database data mismatches that could make the
1.0 ETL job fail.
Technical overview
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TANDBERG
VCS
TANDBERG
Analytics
Extension
Business
Intelligence User
End-
Users
Visual Communications
Network
Administrators
TANDBERG
TMS
Technical overview
The sections provide technical explanations of how the Analytics Extension components are created and used in ongoing operations, to assist administrators understand system dependencies.
TANDBERG Analytics Extension brings business intelligence, customized reporting, and high performance data mining to TMS. Analysis and data from your visual communications network can be accessed via industry standard tools.
Analytics Extension makes the best use of Microsoft‟s powerful SQL Server Analysis Services to provide business knowledge and customized reporting on your TANDBERG TMS Server, and integration with Business Intelligence applications. Analytics Extension enables the use of standardized, OLAP compatible clients to access a known and supported list of information about the usage of your visual communications network without disrupting ongoing operations.
The Analytics Extension component is installed on an existing TANDBERG Management Suite Server and creates and maintains new information stores. The new information stores enhance the type of data available for TMS customers, and provides a standardized, supported way of accessing reporting data made available through the Analytics Extension.
TANDBERG Analytics Platform
Analytics Extension components and roles
TMS Web Server – The Windows installation that hosts the TMS web application. The TMS Web Server also requires a TMS SQL Server, which may or may not be the same Windows Server.
TMS SQL Server – The Microsoft SQL Server hosting the TMS Database. In smaller installations, this server is typically hosted on the same physical server that the TMS Web Server is hosted on. In advanced installations, these tasks are usually different physical Windows Servers.
tmsng
TMS Database – The main database used by TMS itself. This database is hosted by the TMS SQL server role and the default name of the database is tmsng.
TMS SQL Login – The SQL Login used by the TMS Web Server to access the tmsng database. By default, this is the sa account of the TMS SQL server, but can be customized during TMS installation.
Data Warehouse Server – The Microsoft SQL Server that will be hosting the Analytics Databases and SQL Server Analysis Services. This server can be the same SQL server as the TMS SQL Server, but is recommended to be a separate SQL server. This Server installation must be operational before attempting to install the Analytics Extension.
tmsng_dwh
Data Warehouse Database – A new database created by the Analytics Extension which serves as the long-term data repository for the Analytics Extension. This database is hosted by the Data Warehouse Server
CUBE
Data Warehouse CUBE – A new specialized multi-dimensional database created by the Analytics Extension which contains the pre-computed data created by the Analytics Extension. This database is hosted by the SQL Server Analysis Services Instance running on the Data Warehouse Server.
DWH Service User – A Windows domain user account used by the Analytics Extension to log into the data warehouse Server for ongoing operations. This account will be given the necessary permissions by the Analytics Extension installer.
DWH TMS Service User – A SQL Login for the TMS SQL server used by the Analytics Extension to read data from the TMS Database. This account is a SQL Login, not a Windows Account and must have at least the db_datareader role. See Appendix 2: Creating User Accounts in Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server in the Analytics Extension installation guide for information on how to set up such an account.
Analytics Extension components and roles
To plan a deployment of the Analytics Extension, it is important to understand the components and roles used in the solution so you can deploy the solution in the best possible way for your environment. The following table and illustration explain the various elements involved with the TANDBERG Analytics Extension and how they relate to each other.
Analytics Extension components and roles
tmsng_dwh
CUBE
tmsng
TMS Web Server
TMS SQL Server
Data Warehouse
Server
TMS SQL
Login
Analytics User
VCS
OLE DB
Feedback
Figure 1 Illustration of Roles and Components
Data warehouse server
Analytics Extension comprises two major elements - the data warehouse database, and the data warehouse CUBE.
Data warehouse database
The data warehouse database is used for analysis and data mining, and contains information from the TMS database combined with data computations and analysis.
Using credentials specified by the installing user, the data warehouse database is created in a SQL server instance of the data warehouse server. The default database name is tmsng_dwh. The DWH (data warehouse) service user is defined as the owner of the database, and this service account is used by the Analytics Extension to log into the database for ongoing operations. Ordinary users of the Analytics Extension API do not connect to this database.
The data warehouse database accesses the TMS database through a linked server, created on the data warehouse server during installation. The linked server is created automatically using the TMS database location and DWH TMS service user credentials supplied during installation. The DWH TMS service user is an SQL login for the TMS SQL server. This account only needs db_datareader role to access the TMS database, and can reuse any existing login with sufficient SQL access permissions.
Data warehouse CUBE
The data warehouse CUBE is a specialized type of database used in analysis and data mining. Its main advantage is its ability to hold pre-computed aggregates of data across many different dimensions, allowing fast manipulation of queries. The data warehouse CUBE holds different data defined as „facts‟, each of which has different defined „dimensions‟, which can be used to manipulate the information stored in the different fact tables. Analytics Extension provides sets of facts and dimensions that can be used by programmers and analytics users.
The data warehouse CUBE is created during installation in the Analysis Services instance on the data warehouse server. The default name for the database is tmsng_dwhAsDb (its name format must always be <database>AsDb). The DWH service user is configured as the owner of the CUBE and the DWH service user credentials are used by Analytics Extension to connect to the cube for ongoing operations. Ordinary users of the Analytics Extension API connect to this CUBE using an OLAP client and their Windows Domain accounts (with reader role permissions).
Add http pump ref The data warehouse CUBE connects to the data warehouse database using a data source defined
configured to use the DWH service user credentials.
Analytics Extension components and roles
Data warehouse updates
Data mining and long term analysis of information is done using historical data. The focus is on historical data, instead of real-time data. Because of this, the data warehouse contents are not recorded in real-time as in the traditional reporting information viewed via TMS. Instead the DWH data is refreshed daily by the Windows Service installed on the TMS web server by the Analytics Extension.
The Windows Service initiates two updates, the ETL Task and the CUBE refresh. The ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) task extracts from the TMS database all new (recorded since the last time the ETL task run) data updates values and computations stored in the data warehouse database. Because only new information is processed, the ETL task is extremely efficient. This task is initiated by the Analytics Extension‟s Windows Service connecting to the data warehouse server at a scheduled time using the supplied DWH service user credentials. The ETL job executes on the data warehouse server and uses the defined linked server to read information from the TMS database. There is no significant extra load placed the TMS web server. An administrator may also initiate the ETL job to run immediately via the Analytics Extension web interface in TMS.
The CUBE refresh is performed daily after the data warehouse database has been updated by the ETL task. To initiate this update, the Analytics Extension Windows Service on the TMS Web Server connects to the Analytics Service on the data warehouse server using the DWH service user credentials and tells the CUBE to refresh. The CUBE uses the connection properties defined in the CUBE‟s Data Source definition to connect to the data warehouse database.
Service account permissions and uses
Data warehouse service user
The data warehouse service user account is used by Analytics Extension to log into the data warehouse database and data warehouse CUBE. This user account must be a valid Windows Domain account. It does not need any pre-existing permissions. It is also used by the data warehouse CUBE to connect to the data warehouse database in the Database Engine instance.
If the account password changes the installation must be reconfigured. See the Analytics Extension
Reconfiguration section for more information.
DWH TMS service user
The TMS service user account is used by the data warehouse server to pull data from the TMS database. This account must have an SQL Login capable of connecting to the TMS database tmsng. It only needs SQL login access to the TMS and the db_datareader role on the TMS database.
If the account password changes, the installation must be reconfigured. See the Analytics Extension
Reconfiguration section for more information.
Adding and managing users
Adding and managing users
There are two classes of users for the Analytics Extension:
administrators who have access to diagnostic information and settings analytics users who are consumers of the Analytics Extension data output
SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) uses a strict security model and only Windows authentication is supported. Any user or client who wishes to be an administrator or analytics user must have a valid Windows Domain account the SSAS instance trusts. Some software clients allow a user to specify which account they will use to authenticate to SSAS; others only support Integrated Authentication where the credentials of your current user identity are used.
Analytics users
Users who wish to read data from the Analytics Extension must have access to the data warehouse CUBE hosted by the SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS). An account with SSAS access does not necessarily have the right to read the data warehouse CUBE.
SSAS offers administrators a wide variety of permissions possibilities for users, but to ease configuration the data warehouse CUBE has a custom reader role defined during installation. Users who are members of this role will have access to read, but not modify any information in the data warehouse CUBE. Access to the information made available via the Analytics Extension should be granted by adding users to this reader role.
To add a new user to the reader role:
1. Open Management Studio, and connect to the relevant SSAS instance.
2. Locate Databases > tmsng_dwhAsDb > Roles.
3. Right-click Reader and select Properties.
4. Go to the Membership subpage. Click Add… to enter users or groups (Figure 1). To grant read access to domain members, use the Everyone group. Use the Authenticated Users group to exclude guest accounts and anonymous users.
Figure 1: Managing user rights for accessing the cube
Adding and managing users
To remove a user from the reader role:
1. Open Management Studio, and connect to the relevant SSAS instance.
2. Locate Databases > tmsng_dwhAsDb > Roles.
3. Right-click Reader and select Properties.
4. Go to the Membership subpage. Select the user to remove and click Remove.
Administrator roles
Analytics extension administrators
To view the Analytics Extension web interface, you must be a member of a user group in TMS that has the Configuration > Read permission. To run the ETL job, the user must be a member of a user group in TMS that has the Configuration > Update permission.
Group membership and group permissions are managed in the User Administration pages of TMS, located at Administrative Tools > User Administration.
Analysis services server administrators
Access to the data warehouse CUBE and data exposed by the Analytics Extension is controlled via the SSAS administrator role. Administrative privileges for the Analysis Services instance are controlled by the server role in the Analysis Services server instance.
By default, local administrators of the Windows Server are members of the server role and have full access to all features and data in the server instance. Other users can be added to the server role to grant them administrator rights. To add another user to the server role:
1. In SQL Server Management Studio, connect to the instance of Analysis Services.
2. Right-click the instance name in Object Explorer and then click Properties.
3. In the Select a Page pane, click Security.
4. Click Add to add one or more Windows users or groups to the server role.
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