Examining cube file structures

It's time to take a break from SSDT and check what's happening under the hood. Unlike other database platforms, each SSAS database consists of many files. Analysis Services does not expose its transaction log, nor does it have system databases as master or tempdb. Instead, all of the metadata for the entire server resides in the master.vmp file, which you cannot read or modify. You don't have to know what's within each database file, but knowing Analysis Services' database file structures can be very helpful during troubleshooting.

How to do it...

Let's get started; perform the following steps to examine the cube file structure:

1. Each of the Analysis Services instances is associated with a data folder, which stores files for all the databases found on this instance.

2. All of the SSAS instance configuration properties are stored in the msmdsrv.ini file found in the CONFIG folder under your Analysis Services installation directory. DataDir is the property that controls...