Microsoft Kerberos Configuration Manager for SQL Server

/0 Comments/in /by

Anyone who has gone through configuring Kerberos knows that it’s not fun. After having done a few installations, my personal record for configuring Kerberos for SharePoint, SSAS, SSRS, SQL Server, and PerformancePoint was 4 hours but I had all parties including the AD administrator in the same room. In an attempt to facilitate troubleshooting Kerberos, Microsoft released Microsoft Kerberos Configuration Manager for SQL Server. It’s a simple diagnostic tool for troubleshoot Kerberos issues related to SQL Server.

Once you install and start the tool, you connect to the desired instance (requires SQL Server standard authentication to a remote server). Then, the tool checks the service account and discovers what SPN’s are registered for that account and what delegation options are configured in Active Directory. If it finds inconsistencies, it is capable of generating a script that your AD administrator can run or applying the fix interactively.

052413_1320_MicrosoftKe1

As a side note, be aware that if Kerberos doesn’t work, SSRS, Power View, and PerformancePoint 2013 supports SSAS authentication using EffectiveUserName.

Best Practices for Implementing Enterprise BI Solution at SQL Saturday 2013

/0 Comments/in /by

SQL Saturday 2013 in Atlanta was a raging success. Some 555 people attended which made it the most attended SQL Saturday even ever. I’ve uploaded the slides from my presentation “Best Practices for Implementing Enterprise BI Solution” to the Prologika site and Slideshare. The presentation had a great attendance and reviews. Thanks to everyone who attended it and it was great meeting all of you!

“Learn best practices to make your organization a center of BI excellence! I’ll walk you through lessons learned during our implementation of an enterprise end-to-end BI solution. Working experience with the dimensional modeling and the Microsoft BI stack is assumed.”

Leveraging Data to Revolutionize a Mature Business by Bijal Patel at Atlanta BI Group on May 20th

/0 Comments/in /by

Due to Memorial Day, we’ll move our next Atlanta BI Group meeting to May 20th. The meeting will be sponsored by Strategy Analyzer. Our speaker will be Bijal Patel (Director of Data and Integration Services at Cox Media Group) and the topic is “Leveraging Data to Revolutionize a Mature Business”.

“Learn how the integration, management and analysis of data is helping Cox Media Group reinvent its business model. Leveraging SSIS, BizTalk, MDS and several other leading technologies, Cox Media Group is finding new ways to reach its customers and deliver innovative media products and services to its established customer base.”

This looks like a very interesting “from the trenches” presentation given the experience of the speaker and the business of its organization. I hope you can join us. Please register and RSVP on the Atlanta BI Group website.

Presenting at SQL Saturday in Atlanta

/0 Comments/in /by

I’ll present at SQL Saturday in Atlanta on May 18th. Initially, I was planning to talk about dashboard options with the Microsoft BI stack but the organizers had a call for more advanced content. To accommodate this request, I’ll present Best Practices for Implementing an Enterprise BI Solution where I’ll share proven practices harvested from real-life projects.

“Learn best practices to make your organization a center of BI excellence! I’ll walk you through lessons learned during our implementation of an enterprise end-to-end BI solution, which is discussed in the Records Management Firm Saves $1 Million, Gains Faster Data Access with Microsoft BI case study published by Microsoft. Working experience with the dimensional modeling and the Microsoft BI stack is assumed.”

I’m looking forward to seeing you on May 18th.

Default Parameters in Power View

/0 Comments/in /by

Scenario: You need to configure a Power View report to show data for a dynamic date, such as the current date or the last date with data. However, as it stands Power View doesn’t support expressions.

Workaround: Add a Boolean calculated column to the Date table that returns TRUE for the date of interest. For example, if you want the report to show data for today’s date, the expression might be:

=if([Date]=TODAY(), True, False)

where [Date] is the column with date data type. Then, use this column as a filter in Power View.

050413_1722_DefaultPara1

Unfortunately, this workaround has a significant limitation. If the report needs another filter on the Date table, such as to allow the user to overwrite the default filter on the current date, this approach won’t work because filters on multiple attributes are interpreted as an AND condition (Date is 1/1/2013 AND TodayDate=True). Inability to specify OR filter condition between attributes is another Power View limitation. So, users needs to be trained to use either the TodayDate or Date filter but not both.

Looking ahead, it will be nice if Power View supports VB or DAX expressions as regular SSRS reports do.

Many thanks to Darren Gosbell for suggesting the workaround.