Choosing an edition of Analysis Services

Before we start developing with Analysis Services, we need a clear idea of which edition of Analysis Services we're going to be developing for. There are two choices: Standard Edition, which is cheaper but missing some features, and Enterprise Edition, which is more expensive but feature complete. Licensing cost is likely to be the major factor in this decision. If money is no object, then you should use Enterprise Edition. If it is an issue, then you'll just have to live with the limitations of Standard Edition. Of course, if we install Analysis Services on a server that already has SQL Server installed then there are no extra license costs involved, but as we'll see in Chapter 11, we have to be careful they don't compete for resources. This document on the Microsoft website gives a detailed breakdown of which features are available in each edition: http://tinyurl.com/sqlstdvsent.

Don't worry about having to use the Standard Edition though. Some of the features it lacks can be recreated with a little bit of extra work. The key features in Enterprise Edition are in the area of performance for very large or complex cubes, and you can go a long way with Standard Edition before you really need to use Enterprise Edition. The Deployment Server Edition project property, which is described below, will help you make sure you only use the features available in the edition of your choice.