The Analysis Cubes product offering is composed of several different components, each of which can be modified and customized to fit the needs of our organization. Although each of these components plays a critical role in the overall end product, understanding how each component works in relation to the others can be challenging. Fortunately for us, the components that make up the cubes are fairly well-known as they are spread across the Microsoft SQL Server stack.

Let's take a look at the various components that comprise the Analysis Cubes environment. The following figure shows an overview of an Analysis Cubes solution deployed in an environment containing three separate GP company databases:

From the preceding figure, we can see the various components and their connections to each other. Notice how the users are connecting to the SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) database via viewers such as Microsoft Excel, SQL Server Reporting...