Teach yourself the fundamentals of SQL Server Analysis Services one step at a time. With this practical, learn-by-doing tutorial, you get the guidance you need to build flexible and powerful solutions that meet the analytical needs of your organization. Discover how to: Start building cubes using the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Business Intelligence designers Create dimensions and measure groups to build, browse, and modify OLAP cubes Design objects to handle unique financial analysis requirements Improve query performance with aggregations and user hierarchies Customize cubes with multi-dimensional expressions (MDX) and other advanced design techniques Use actions to integrate Web pages, reporting applications, and drillthrough capabilities with cubes Manage role-based security and restrict data access Deploy and maintain a database in a production environment CD features All practice exercises and answer files Fully searchable eBook