Enterprise-Ready Features

Article
09/22/2010

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There are clear benefits in cost and efficiency when enterprises choose to consolidate models in the SQL Server Modeling Services. As a foundation for data-driven applications and services, the Modeling Services database follows SQL Server best practices. This topic contains a brief description of these features. For a detailed architectural discussion about all of these features, see SQL Server Modeling Services Features. For information about how to use these features, see the links in each feature description. These links point to child topics of the SQL Server Modeling Services Administration topic.

Scalability

In an enterprise with complex application needs, Modeling Services must scale well. Scalability is achieved through the use of several SQL Server 2008 best practices, including partitioning, row versioning, and replication. Partitioning and row versioning improve throughput by avoiding I/O bottlenecks and blocking. Replication allows for scale-out scenarios to other servers or locations. Replication can also be used to create a read-only reporting server that reduces demands on the production Modeling Services database. For guidelines on Modeling Services scalability scenarios, see Availability and Scalability Considerations (Modeling Services).

Availability

Modeling Services uses two main SQL Server 2008 features to support high availability: Database Mirroring and the Resource Governor. Database Mirroring provides a standby database in the event that the main Modeling Services database becomes unavailable. The Resource Governor prioritizes workloads and prevents noncritical jobs and queries from impacting more critical Modeling Services activities. For guidelines on improving Modeling Services availability, see Availability and Scalability Considerations (Modeling Services).

Security

Enterprises must be able to control access to Modeling Services data, granting only the required levels of access to the appropriate individuals and applications. Modeling Services provides a security model that leverages the security features of SQL Server 2008 and extends these with a claims-based security model. Data in the Modeling Services database is associated with Modeling Services Folders. Administrators can choose to grant users access to Folders of specific models or even specific versions of those models. Base Modeling Services tables are protected from direct modification; instead, updatable views provide a way to examine the user's permissions to access or change the base tables. For walkthroughs on specific security tasks, see Security Tasks (Modeling Services).

Change Tracking

Both enterprises and applications have varying needs to track change events in the Modeling Services database. Enterprises often have compliance regulations that require firm evidence of how data was changed, by whom, and at what date and time. Similar data is required in troubleshooting scenarios to discover what changed to cause the current problems. When Modeling Services is installed on an Enterprise version of SQL Server 2008, the Change Data Capture (CDC) feature can be used to provide many of these auditing needs. Changes and metadata about those changes are stored in database tables. There is also a lighter-weight Change Tracking feature that applications can use to inform them that specific Modeling Services tables have changed; this could be used for a variety of synchronization needs, such as a screen refresh of a graphical depiction of the underlying model. For more information about auditing and synchronization tasks, see Change Tracking Tasks (Modeling Services).

Versioning

Modeling Services support versioning, which is important to the Modeling Services architecture for partitioning, security, and general organization. Modeling Services Folders support versioning by providing containment for models and data. This is analogous to file system folders, which provide containment and organization for files. As with file system folders, Modeling Services Folders can contain subfolders or be contained by a parent Folder. This creates a hierarchical structure that is flexible and manageable. Application versions can be represented by a set of related Folders. Data within Modeling Services tables is then versioned by referencing the appropriate Folder associated with that version. In addition to data versioning, the models or schemas themselves can be versioned. For more information about best practices for versioning, see Versioning Scenarios (Modeling Services). For more information about Folders, see Security Tasks (Modeling Services).

Lifetime Services

Modeling Services includes a service to manage lifetime policies for model instances. A Modeling Services administrator creates policies for the removal of old data. The administrator then associates this policy with specific Modeling Services tables. The lifetime service schedules and executes the removal of the old data from the tables based on the assigned policy. For more information about using lifetime services in the Modeling Services database, see Lifetime Services Tasks (Modeling Services).

Localization Support

Global organizations need Modeling Services to support multiple languages. Different users should be able to explore the same Modeling Services model schema and see description strings in their own language. These same users should also be able to view localized model instance data in those schemas. Modeling Services accomplishes this goal through string tables, resource tables, and localization functions. Instead of directly using string-based columns, tables can use string and resource identifiers to point to their localized instances. Tools like Microsoft code name “Quadrant” are able to identify the language of the current user and display these localized description strings. For more information about these best practices and localization tasks, see Localization Tasks (Modeling Services).