###BeginCaseStudy###
Case Study: 2
Contoso
Ltd Case A
General Background
You are the SQL Server Administrator for Contoso, Ltd. You have been tasked with
upgrading all existing SQL Server instances to SQL Server 2012.
Technical Background
The corporate environment includes an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain
named contoso.com. The forest and domain levels are set to Windows Server 2008. All
default containers are used for computer and user accounts. All servers run Windows Server
2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1). All client computers run Windows 7 Professional SP1. All
servers and client computers are members of the contoso.com domain.
The current SQL Server environment consists of a single instance failover cluster of SQL
Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services (SSAS). The virtual server name of the cluster is
SSASCluster. The cluster includes two nodes: Node1 and Node2. Node1 is currently the
active node. In anticipation of the upgrade, the prerequisites and shared components have
been upgraded on both nodes of the cluster, and each node was rebooted during a weekly
maintenance window.
A single-server deployment of SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services (SSRS) in native
mode is installed on a server named SSRS01. The Reporting Server service is configured to
use a domain service account. SSRS01 hosts reports that access the SSAS databases for sales
data as well as modeling data for the Research team. SSRS01 contains 94 reports used by the
organization. These reports are generated continually during business hours. Users report that
report subscriptions on SSRS01 are not being delivered. You run the reports on demand from
Report Manager and find that the reports render as expected.
A new server named SSRS02 has been joined to the domain, SSRS02 will host a singleserver deployment of SSRS so that snapshots of critical reports are accessible during the
upgrade.
The server configuration is shown in the exhibit. (Click the Exhibit button.)

The production system includes three SSAS databases that are described in the following
table.

All SSAS databases are backed up once a day, and backups are stored offsite.
Business Requirements
After the upgrade users must be able to perform the following tasks:
• Ad-hoc analysis of data in the SSAS databases by using the Microsoft
Excel PivotTable client.
• Daily operational analysis by executing a custom application that uses
ADOMD.NET and existing Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) queries.
The detailed data must be stored in the model.
Technical Requirements
You need to minimize downtime during the SSASCluster upgrade. The upgrade must
minimize user intervention and administrative effort.
The upgrade to SQL Server 2012 must maximize the use of all existing servers, require the
least amount of administrative effort, and ensure that the SSAS databases are operational as
soon as possible.

You must implement the highest level of domain security for client computers connecting to
SSRS01. The SSRS instance on SSRS01 must use Kerberos delegation to connect to the
SSAS databases. Email notification for SSRS01 has not been previously configured. Email
notification must be configured to use the SMTP server SMTP01 with a From address of
reports@contoso.com. Report distribution must be secured by using SSL and must be limited
to the contoso.com domain.
You have the following requirements for SSRS02:
• Replicate the SSRS01 configuration.
• Ensure that all current reports are available on SSRS02.
• Minimize the performance impact on SSR501.
In preparation for the upgrade, the SSRS-related components have been installed on the new
SSRS02 server by using the Reporting Services file-only installation mode. The Reporting
Services databases have been restored from SSRS01 and configured appropriately.
You must design a strategy to recover the SSRS instance on SSRS01 in the event of a system
failure. The strategy must ensure that SSRS can be recovered in the minimal amount of time
and that reports are available as soon as possible. Only functional components must be
recovered.
SSRS02 is the recovery server and is running the same version of SSRS as SSRS01. A full
backup of the SSRS databases on SSRS01 is performed nightly. The report server
configuration files, custom assemblies, and extensions on SSRS02 are manually synchronized
with SSRS01.
Prior to implementing the upgrade to SQL Server 2012, you must back up all existing SSAS
databases.
Databases on SSRS01 is performed nightly. The report server configuration files, custom
assemblies, and extensions on SSRS02 are manually synchronized with SSRS01.
Prior to implementing the upgrade to SQL Server 2012, you must back up all existing SSAS
databases. The backup must include only the partitioning, metadata, and aggregations to
minimize the processing time required when restoring the databases. You must minimize
processing time and the amount of disk space used by the backups.
Before upgrading SSAS on the SSASCluster, all existing databases must be moved to a
temporary staging server named SSAS01 that hosts a default instance of SQL Server 2012
Analysis Services. This server will be used for testing client applications connecting to SSAS
2012, and as a disaster recovery platform during the upgrade. You must move the databases
by using the least amount of administrative effort and minimize downtime.
All SSAS databases other than the Research database must be converted to tabular BI
Semantic Models (BISMs) as part of the upgrade to SSAS 2012. The Research team must
have access to the Research database for modeling throughout the upgrade. To facilitate this,
you detach the Research database and attach it to SSAS01.
While testing the Research database on SSAS01, you increase the compatibility level to
1100. You then discover a compatibility issue with the application. You must roll back the
compatibility level of the database to 1050 and retest.

After completing the upgrade, you must do the following:
1. Design a role and assign an MDX expression to the Allowed member set property of the
Customer dimension to allow sales representatives to browse only members of the Customer
dimension that are located in their sales regions. Use the sales representatives’ logins and
minimize impact on performance.
2. Deploy a data model to allow the ad-hoc analysis of data. The data model must be cached
and source data from an OData feed.
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You need to develop a BISM that meets the business requirements for ad-hoc and daily
operational analysis. You must minimize development effort.
Which development approach and mode should you use?

A.
Develop a tabular project and configure the model with the DirectQuery mode setting on
and the project query mode set to DirectQuery.

B.
Develop a tabular project and configure the model with the DirectQuery mode setting on
and the project query mode set to In-Memory with DirectQuery.

C.
Develop a multidimensional project and configure the model with the DirectQuery mode
setting off.

D.
Develop a multidimensional project and configure the cube to use hybrid OLAP (HOLAP)
storage mode.

Explanation:
/ After the upgrade users must be able to perform the following tasks:
/ Ad-hoc analysis of data in the SSAS databases by using the Microsoft Excel PivotTable
client (which uses MDX).
/ Daily operational analysis by executing a custom application that uses ADOMD.NET and
existing Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) queries.
/ Deploy a data model to allow the ad-hoc analysis of data. The data model must be cached
and source data from an OData feed.
We cannot use DirectQuery mode so C is the only answer that will provide the required
caching.
When a model is in DirectQuery mode, it can only be queried by using DAX. You cannot use
MDX to create queries. This means that you cannot use the Excel Pivot Client, because
Excel uses MDX.