Multiple Server Reporting

Let me preface this
I need to design a report that displays data for 3 branches of same
companies,
Branch A ,Branch B and Branch C. The problem is that each Branch has their
own
distinct server and database. The schema is identical between them, just
different data in each.
The report is identical for each Branch, the only different is that the
report needs to pull data from all the three Databases A,B,C to display the
report data for that Company as an aggregated view and Also data for each
branch
individually.
How can I design the report or setup the data source.
I really don't want to create and maintain 3 identical reports, the only
difference being the data source.
One possible option I guess would be to create a Linked Server and
Distributed view that combines data from identical tables in 3 databases, and
use that view as the datasource in the report.
Other option is moving data to the centralized server and report from that,
which would cause data redundancy both at local branch and at centralized
server and huge vloume of data movement and keeping track of data.
Just looking for what others have done in similar circumstances so I don't
spend multiple days architecting the wrong approach.
Thanks!
SHi There,
I was under impression that there are expertise here who has implemented a
valid and reliable solution to my similar issue. Now it makes me to beleive
that none has gone through such a senario.
Any help or suggestion are welcome
/
S
"ERS Developer" wrote:
> Let me preface this
> I need to design a report that displays data for 3 branches of same
> companies,
> Branch A ,Branch B and Branch C. The problem is that each Branch has their
> own
> distinct server and database. The schema is identical between them, just
> different data in each.
> The report is identical for each Branch, the only different is that the
> report needs to pull data from all the three Databases A,B,C to display the
> report data for that Company as an aggregated view and Also data for each
> branch
> individually.
> How can I design the report or setup the data source.
> I really don't want to create and maintain 3 identical reports, the only
> difference being the data source.
> One possible option I guess would be to create a Linked Server and
> Distributed view that combines data from identical tables in 3 databases, and
> use that view as the datasource in the report.
> Other option is moving data to the centralized server and report from that,
> which would cause data redundancy both at local branch and at centralized
> server and huge vloume of data movement and keeping track of data.
> Just looking for what others have done in similar circumstances so I don't
> spend multiple days architecting the wrong approach.
> Thanks!
> S|||ERS,
The simplest solution is linked servers (if you have high
availability), have one report and use IF statements based on a
parameter to decide the query to use.
The parameter would be the branch, so you could have;
If @.Branch = 'A'
Select * From BranchAServer.MyDB.dbo.MyTable
If @.Branch = 'B'
Select * From BranchBServer.MyDB.dbo.MyTable
If @.Branch = 'C'
Select * From BranchCServer.MyDB.dbo.MyTable
So the user could select their branch. This is very basic and could be
made more efficient placing the query in a stored procedure. Also there
is aperformance issue with distributed queries like this pulling all
data to the calling server before processing. Ideally you'd use an
OPENQUERY, check BOL for info on that.
Letting the user select a branch is obviously a security issue, but you
could deny access to the main report but create 'linked' reports for
each branch and set the branch parameter in properties of the linked
report and set it not to prompt the user. 'Linked' reports are merely
shortcuts, so when you change the main report, it's reflected in the
linked reports as well, but the parameter settings remain independant.
There is another option which we use here, which is to create a simple
form of data warehouse. This is more useful if you have disparate
datasources. Basically, create jobs that copies data from the branches
into a central database periodically, say every 20 minutes. To reduce
redundancy, just take the fields you need. You could use replication to
do this also. Not only will this make your report quicker, but it
should reduce the overhead on your OLTP servers.
Chris
ERS Developer wrote:
> Hi There,
> I was under impression that there are expertise here who has
> implemented a valid and reliable solution to my similar issue. Now it
> makes me to beleive that none has gone through such a senario.
> Any help or suggestion are welcome
> /
> S
> "ERS Developer" wrote:
> > Let me preface this
> > I need to design a report that displays data for 3 branches of same
> > companies,
> > Branch A ,Branch B and Branch C. The problem is that each Branch
> > has their own
> > distinct server and database. The schema is identical between them,
> > just different data in each.
> >
> > The report is identical for each Branch, the only different is that
> > the report needs to pull data from all the three Databases A,B,C to
> > display the report data for that Company as an aggregated view and
> > Also data for each branch
> > individually.
> >
> > How can I design the report or setup the data source.
> >
> > I really don't want to create and maintain 3 identical reports, the
> > only difference being the data source.
> >
> > One possible option I guess would be to create a Linked Server and
> > Distributed view that combines data from identical tables in 3
> > databases, and use that view as the datasource in the report.
> >
> > Other option is moving data to the centralized server and report
> > from that, which would cause data redundancy both at local branch
> > and at centralized server and huge vloume of data movement and
> > keeping track of data.
> >
> > Just looking for what others have done in similar circumstances so
> > I don't spend multiple days architecting the wrong approach.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > S|||Hi S/All,
just to let viewers here know the generic answer to the generic
question...
Lots of people, tens of thousands of them, have faced the issue of
reporting from multiple different oprational systems and the Corporate
Information Factory is one rather comprehensive solution to the
pervasive issue of consolitated analysis/reporting...
Best Regards
Peter Nolan
www.peternolan.com
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/microsoft.public.sqlserver.datawarehouse/browse_frm/thread/473404688a753292/64024bd1636f02e9?hl=en#64024bd1636f02e9