Stand-alone cartridge-style data aggregation server and method of and system for managing multi-dimensional databases using the same

Abstract

Improved method of and apparatus for aggregating data elements in multidimensional databases (MDDB). In the preferred embodiment, the apparatus is realized in the form of a high-performance stand-alone (i.e. external) aggregation server which can be plugged-into conventional MOLAP systems to achieve significant improments in system performance. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the stand-alone aggregation server contains a scalable MDDB and a high-performance aggregation engine that are integrated into the modular architecture of the aggregation server. The stand-alone aggregation server of the present invention can uniformly distribute data elements among a plurality of processors, for balanced loading and processing, and therefore is highly scalable. The stand-alone aggregation server of the present invention can be used to realize (i) an improved MDDB for supporting on-line analytical processing (OLAP) operations, (ii) an improved Internet URL Directory for supporting on-line information searching operations by Web-enabled client machines, as well as (iii) diverse types of MDDB-based systems for supporting real-time control of processes in response to complex states of information reflected in the MDDB.

1 - 22 . (canceled)  
     
     
         23 . An on-line analytical processing (OLAP) system for supporting OLAP analysis carried out over client machines, said OLAP system comprising: 
 a plurality of different OLAP servers, each providing an application layer and presentation layer through which one or more users can perform OLAP analysis via interaction with a client machine operably coupled thereto over a network;    a stand-alone data aggregation server for use with any one of said plurality of different OLAP servers;    wherein said stand-alone data aggregation server includes    an aggregation engine integrated with a multidimensional datastore and an interface, said aggregation engine performing data aggregation operations on data loaded from a database and storing the resultant aggregated data in said multidimensional datastore; and    an interface for receiving requests communicated from any one of said plurality of different OLAP servers, accessing said aggregation engine to retrieve from said multidimensional datastore aggregated data pertaining to said requests, and communicating the aggregated data corresponding to said requests to said one OLAP server that communicated said requests.    
     
     
         24 . The OLAP system of  claim 23  wherein the plurality of different OLAP servers comprise a plurality of different OLAP servers distributed by different vendors.  
     
     
         25 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein said interface implements a standard protocol for accessing data.  
     
     
         26 . The OLAP system of  claim 25 , wherein the standard protocol comprises one of OLDB, OLE-DB, ODBC, SQL, and JDBC.  
     
     
         27 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein computational tasks performed by said aggregation engine is restricted to data aggregation operations.  
     
     
         28 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein said interface extracts dimensions from the received requests and forwards the dimensions to a storage management module, and wherein said storage management module accesses locations of said multidimensional datastore based upon the forwarded dimensions and returns the retrieved data back to said interface for communication to said one OLAP server that communicated said requests.  
     
     
         29 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , further comprising control logic that, upon determining that said multidimensional datastore does not contain aggregated data required to service at least one given request, controls said aggregation engine to perform aggregation operations to thereby generate the required aggregated data and return the required aggregated data back to said interface for communication to said one OLAP server that communicated said requests.  
     
     
         30 . The OLAP system of  claim 29 , wherein said control logic controls a storage management module to store the required aggregation data generated by said aggregation engine in said multidimensional database.  
     
     
         31 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein data stored in said multidimensional datastore is logically partitioned into N dimensions, and wherein said aggregation engine performs a first stage of aggregation operations along a first dimension, and performs and second stage of aggregation operations for a given slice in the first dimension along N-1 dimensions other than the first dimension.  
     
     
         32 . The OLAP system of  claim 31 , wherein said aggregation engine stores the resultant data of aggregation operations for the given slice as a record in a data file, and wherein location of the record in the data file is stored in a directory.  
     
     
         33 . The OLAP system of  claim 32 , wherein said directory stores, for a given record, a start address and end address of the record and a physical address of the data file.  
     
     
         34 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein the time delay in responding to said requests is equivalent to accessing a local datastore of said one OLAP server.  
     
     
         35 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein said network includes the infrastructure of the Internet.  
     
     
         36 . The OLAP system of  claim 23 , wherein each said client machine includes a web-browser-based user interface that enables said OLAP analysis.  
     
     
         37 . An on-line analytical processing (OLAP) system comprising: 
 a plurality of client machines communicating with an OLAP server over a network;    wherein said OLAP server includes OLAP analysis logic and presentation logic to enable user-directed OLAP analysis on data; and    a stand-alone aggregation server for operably communicating with said OLAP server to perform data aggregation operations on the data, and store and manage such data for access by said OLAP server.    
     
     
         38 . The OLAP system of  claim 36 , wherein the network includes the infrastructure of the Internet.  
     
     
         39 . The OLAP system of  claim 37 , wherein each said client machine includes a web-browser-based user interface that enables said user-directed OLAP analysis.  
     
     
         40 . A decision support system operable within an enterprise, said decision support system comprising: 
 a plurality of client machines communicating with a first server over a network;    said first server including support for user-directed analysis of data; and    a stand-alone aggregation server for operably communicating with said first server to perform data aggregation operations on the data, and store and manage such data for access by said first server.    
     
     
         41 . The decision support system of  claim 40 , wherein the network includes the infrastructure of the Internet.  
     
     
         42 . The decision support system of  claim 41 , wherein each said client machine includes a web-browser-based user interface that enables said user-directed analysis.