Sybase 12.4.2 manual System administration tasks

System administration tasks

Rapid access to many data sources

Data warehousing and Adaptive Server IQ

Learning more about Adaptive Server IQ

Adaptive Server IQ can integrate data from diverse sources—not just IQ databases, but other databases in the Adaptive Server family, as well as non- Sybase databases and flat files. You can import this data into your IQ database, so that you can take advantage of IQ's rapid access capabilities. You can also query other databases directly, using Adaptive Server IQ's remote data access capabilities.

Note Some of these capabilities are currently available on Windows NT only. See your Adaptive Server IQ Installation and Configuration Guide for more information.

Data warehouses are collections of data designed to allow business analysts to analyze information. They are typically distinct from production databases, to avoid interrupting daily operations. Data warehouses are often used as data stores on which to build decision support systems (DSS). A decision support system is a software application designed to allow an organization to analyze data in order to support business decision making.

All of Adaptive Server IQ's capabilities are designed to facilitate DSS applications. A unique indexing system speeds data analysis. Query optimization gives you rapid responses, even when results include thousands or millions of rows of data. Concurrent data access for multiple query users, and the ability to update the database without interrupting query processing, provide the 24–hour, 7–day access that users expect.

This book explains how you manage an Adaptive Server IQ system, and gives pointers for tuning your system for maximum performance. It is intended for database administrators, and others who need to understand performance issues. You may also want to refer to the other documentation described in “About This Book”:

System administration tasks

Typically, the database administrator (DBA) is responsible for the tasks listed on the left side of the following table. Look at the right side of the table to see where these tasks are explained in this or other manuals.

2