MicroStrategy Connectivity
MIS 497
Project Source

A Project Source is an alias in which connectivity
information for all the projects in that Project Source is
stored.
2 – Tier
Project Source Specifies a DSN
and login for a direct connection
to metadata.
3 – Tier
Project Source identifies the
MSTR I-Server machine to
which the client will connect.
Project Source (continued)

A Project Source (PS) houses the information needed to
connect to a Metadata at start-up
– A PS can contain several projects, each of which can
potentially connect to a different DW. However, there
can be only one metadata per PS, so all projects within
a PS share the same metadata
– PS can be created in either 2-tier (direct connection to
the metadata) or in 3-tier (through Intelligence Server)
mode.
– We’ll have both modes of connection for different
phases of the projects in the class.
Start-up Connectivity Logical Layout
2 - Tier
Project
Source
Direct ODBC
MD DSN
+ login
Intelligence
Server
3 - Tier
MD
Database
Start-up Connectivity Logical Layout

2 Tier (Direct):
– A local ODBC DSN must be
specified along with the
login.
– This information is stored in
the registry of the local
MSTR Desktop machine.
– ODBC PWD is stored
encrypted in the registry of
the local machine.
Start-up Connectivity Logical Layout

3 Tier (Intelligence Server):
– No ODBC connection from
the client to the DB
– MSTR Desktop client will
connect to I-Server
definition, so the name of IServer and RPC connection
to it are necessary.
– All connection information
and MD DSN are located on
the Server machine.
Database Instance

A Database Instance is a logical representation of a
connection to a physical database.
Database Instance


Each PS is associated with one MD DB Instance and at least one
Warehouse DB Instance.
Database Instance stores the following information:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Database Connection
Type of DB (Oracle, SQL Server, Informix, etc.)
Maximum number of connections allowed for the DB Instance
DB specific optimizations (I.e. VLDB properties)
Warehouse table prefixes (if required)
Location for intermediate table storage
Prioritization scheme to be used when submitting jobs to the DB
Database Connection


A Database Connection is
comprised of a DSN and
other information necessary
for connection to a
database.
Each Database Instance can
potentially point to multiple
Database Connections.
DSN and Database Login


The DSNs listed represent
the local machine’s system
ODBC data sources and
DSNs from other sources.
A Database Login stores the
UID and PWD that will be
used to access the database
or the NT network login
DSN and Database Login



DSNs listed will list local machine DSNs and all
other DSNs recorded in Metadata.
In a 3 tier environment, DSN may or may not
actually be a DSN on a local machine.
There’s unlimited number of Database Logins that
can be created, this functionality is needed for
advanced administration and monitoring by DBAs
and thus won’t be discussed in this class.
The Big Picture
Project
Source
MSTR
Intelligence
Server
Project
WH DB Instance
MD DB Instance
Connection Mapping
WH DB Connection
MD DB Connection
WH DSN
MD DSN
WH Login:
MD Login:
WH UID
MD UID
WH PWD
MD PWD
WH
Database
MD
Database
Workshop
Goals:

Create VMALL Warehouse Instance
Prerequisites:

Completion of Database Connectivity
workshop
Workshop
1.
2.
3.
Open MicroStrategy Desktop
Go to Tools Project Source Manager
Click Add
Workshop
4. Enter your group name as the project source name, select your
metadata DSN and enter appropriate login information
5. Click OK twice, your Project Source is created!
Workshop
6. Now connect to your Project Source, your default login is
Administrator, the password is blank.
7. Now we’ll create Database Instance for our Data Warehouse
8. Go to AdministrationDatabase Instance ManagerRight
Click select New Database Instance
Workshop
9. Name your DB Instance VMALL Warehouse, choose your
database type (SQL Server 7.0) and create a new DB
Connection:
Workshop
10. Select your Warehouse DSN in the list of all DSNs, choose
Administrator as your default login.
11. Click OK twice, your Warehouse connection is created!
Next steps

We’ll go over Data Modeling and create our
project!
Resources:

MicroStrategy Administrator Guide – will have
more information on connectivity and advanced
topics not covered in the class.