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Should you use tabular or multi-dimensional SSAS mode? Here's the answer! Part six of a seven-part series of blogs
If you're building a data warehouse, you'll want to know whether you should be creating cubes using the legacy multi-dimensional Analysis Services server mode, or creating data models in the new tabular mode. This blog gives Wise Owl's take on the subject. Analysis Services - Tabular or Multi-Dimensional Model? What the two SSAS Server modes have in common Creating a tabular model Creating and using a multi-dimensional model cube Comparing tabular model DAX with multi-dimensional MDX Other differences between multi-dimensional and tabular (this blog) Conclusions and a recommendation This blog is part of our online SSAS Tabular tutorial; we also offer lots of other Analysis Services training resources.

Should you use tabular or multi-dimensional SSAS mode? Here's the answer!

Part six of a seven-part series of blogs

If you're building a data warehouse, you'll want to know whether you should be creating cubes using the legacy multi-dimensional Analysis Services server mode, or creating data models in the new tabular mode. This blog gives Wise Owl's take on the subject.

Analysis Services - Tabular or Multi-Dimensional Model?
What the two SSAS Server modes have in common
Creating a tabular model
Creating and using a multi-dimensional model cube
Comparing tabular model DAX with multi-dimensional MDX
Other differences between multi-dimensional and tabular (this blog)
Conclusions and a recommendation

This blog is part of our online SSAS Tabular tutorial; we also offer lots of other Analysis Services training resources.

Posted by Andy Brown on 07 July 2023

Other differences between multi-dimensional and tabular

This blog has argued strongly that you should choose the tabular server mode for SSAS, as it is so much easier to understand and use (and is integrated so much more closely with Excel and PowerPivot).

Above all, tabular models build on relational database theory, whereas to use multi-dimensional models you'll have to get your head round a completely new way of working.

However, in the interests of full disclosure, you should be aware of the following limitations of tabular models:

You can't define role-playing dimensions.
You can't define many-to-many relationships.
You can't create parent-child hierarchies.
You can't define actions (for drill-downs).
Write-back is not supported.
You can't use custom roll-ups.

This isn't a full list, but in general the extra functionality provided by multi-dimensional models is either obscure and not particularly useful, can be modelled around using tabular or is likely to be included in future tabular releases.

Parts of this blog
Analysis Services - Tabular or Multi-Dimensional Model? What the two SSAS Server modes have in common Creating a tabular model Creating and using a multi-dimensional model cube Comparing tabular model DAX with multi-dimensional MDX Other differences between multi-dimensional and tabular (this blog) Conclusions and a recommendation

Some other pages relevant to the above blogs include:

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