What is SSAS Tabular Model?

On the Microsoft data platform, SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) provides a mechanism for creating and publishing corporate data models that can be used as a source for PivotTables in Excel, reports in SQL Server Reporting Services, dashboards in SharePoint Server PerformancePoint Services, and other BI reporting and analysis tools.

Tabular model is a new enhancement in Microsoft SQL Server 2012 analysis service. Now a days, we are using power Pivot and Power BI for data analysis and reporting. It is very faster compare to other reporting tool (SSRS) and light weight too.

It run in-memory or in DirectQuery mode, accessing data directly from backend relational data sources.

This model has compression algorithms and multi-threaded query processor, so that, the in-memory analytics engine delivers (vertipaq) fast access to tabular model objects (table, Views) and data by reporting client applications such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Power View.

About SSAS Tabular Model

We can implement Tabular models in SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) using the Tabular model project template that provides a design surface for creating a model, tables, relationships, and DAX expressions. You can import data from multiple sources, and then enrich the model by adding relationships, calculated tables and columns, measures, KPIs, hierarchies, and translations.

Tabular Model Life Cycle

The steps that happen during data processing in Vertipaq:

1. Reading of the source dataset, transformation into a columnar data structure of VertiPaq, encoding and compressing each column.
2. Creation of dictionaries and indexes for each column.
3. Creation of the data structures for relationships.
4. Computation and compression of all the calculated columns.

Look and feel of Tabular Solutions: