Data Warehouse

The Commerce Server Data Warehouse is a combination of a SQL Server database, an Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) database, and a set of processes that a system administrator uses to import and maintain data. The Data Warehouse stores and manages data in the database for the purpose of performing business analytics: data mining, prediction, and analysis reporting.

The Data Warehouse imports a large amount of data collected from several different data sources. It collects day-to-day operational data about users who visit your site: user profile data, transaction data, and click-history data. It also collects product data and advertising data. This data is gathered from Web server logs, Microsoft Commerce Server databases, and other data sources that you specify. The Data Warehouse then manages the data in the database so that it can be easily accessed for use in Prediction models and creating reports.

The Data Warehouse includes the following key components:

  • Data Warehouse Configurator. A tool used to create a new Data Warehouse. It is not used to configure existing Data Warehouses.

  • Commerce Server Data Transformation Services (DTS) tasks. Commerce Server tasks that are used to import and change the data in the Data Warehouse. Commerce Server tasks are loaded into SQL Server when you unpack a site. You add Commerce Server DTS tasks to a SQL Server package and then run that package to make changes to the Data Warehouse. For detailed information about how Commerce Server DTS tasks work, see Extract, Transform, and Load Process for DTS Tasks.

    You can manually configure the Commerce Server DTS tasks to import data, or you can use the Data Warehouse Import Wizard.

  • Data Warehouse Import Wizard. An interface designed to let you quickly and easily import data into the Data Warehouse. You can also manually configure Data Warehouse DTS tasks to specify which data is to be imported.

    Data Warehouse schema diagram. To view the Data Warehouse schema before you extend the Data Warehouse, refer to this diagram (in poster format), which is available in the Commerce Server 2002 Enterprise Edition Documentation Kit, and available to order on the Web at: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=6724

The following figure shows the data sources from which the Data Warehouse imports data, the DTS tasks that perform the extract, transform, and load processes, and the tools for analysis that the Data Warehouse supports.

A figure that shows the components of the Data Warehouse and how they interact.

The following table lists key Commerce Server Help topics to help you learn more about the Data Warehouse, prediction, and analysis reporting.

To learn about See
Deploying the Data Warehouse Data Warehouse Concepts

Data Warehouse Configurator

Multiple Sites and One Data Warehouse

Data Warehouse Import Wizard

Securing the Data Warehouse Accessing the Analysis Server over HTTPS

Scripts for Securing Databases Accessed by DTS Tasks

Scripts for Securing Databases Accessed by Reports

Data Warehouse Connection Strings

Importing Data into the Data Warehouse Specifying Data to Be Imported into the Data Warehouse

Data Warehouse Import Wizard

Scripting DTS Tasks

Extract, Transform, and Load Process for DTS Tasks

Troubleshooting the Data Warehouse Import Process

Extending the Data Warehouse Extending the Data Warehouse Logical Schema

Data Warehouse Schema

Data Warehouse, Analysis, and OLE DB Provider

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