Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:13, 30 October 2017

Latest revision as of 22:43, 10 March 2025

(9 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown)

Line 1:

'''Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services''' (MDS) is a [[Master Data Management]] (MDM) product from [[Microsoft]] that ships as a part of the [[Microsoft SQL Server]] relational database management system.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130214.aspx</ref> | Mastertitle=SQL DataServer Servicestechnical (MDS)documentation is the- SQL Server solution}}</ref> for master data management. Master data management (MDM) allows an organization to discover and define non-transactional lists of data, and compile maintainable, reliable master lists. Master Data Services first shipped with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2. Microsoft SQL Server 2016 introduced enhancements to Master Data Services, such as improved performance and security, and the ability to clear transaction logs, create custom indexes, share entity data between different models, and support for many-to-many relationships.

==Overview==

Line 8:

Sharing the architectural core with Stratature +EDM, Master Data Services uses a [[Microsoft SQL Server]] database as the physical data store. It is a part of the ''Master Data Hub'', which uses the database to store and manage data [[Entity Data Model|entities]].{{cn|date=January 2015}} It is a database with the software to validate and manage the data, and keep it synchronized with the systems that use the data.<ref name="arch">{{cite web | url = http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb410798.aspx | title = Master Data Management (MDM) Hub Architecture | author = Roger Walter | publisher = MSDN TechNet | accessdate = 2007-09-25}}</ref> The master data hub has to extract the data from the source system, validate, sanitize and shape the data, remove duplicates, and update the hub repositories, as well as synchronize the external sources.<ref name="arch"/> The entity schemas, attributes, data hierarchies, validation rules and access control information are specified as [[metadata]] to the Master Data Services runtime. Master Data Services does not impose any limitation on the data model. Master Data Services also allows custom ''Business rules'', used for validating and sanitizing the data entering the data hub, to be defined, which is then run against the data matching the specified criteria. All changes made to the data are validated against the rules, and a log of the transaction is stored persistently. Violations are logged separately, and optionally the owner is notified, automatically. All the data entities can be [[Revision control system|versioned]].{{cn|date=January 2015}}

Master Data Services allows the master data to be categorized by hierarchical relationships, such as employee data are a subtype of organization data. Hierarchies are generated by relating data attributes. Data can be automatically categorized using rules, and the categories are introspected programmatically. Master Data Services can also expose the data as [[Microsoft SQL Server]] [[view (database)|views]], which can be pulled by any [[SQL]]-compatible client. It uses a role-based access control system to restrict access to the data. The views are generated dynamically, so they contain the latest data entities in the master hub. It can also push out the data by writing to some external journals. Master Data Services also includes a web-based UI for viewing and managing the data. It uses [[SilverLight]] in the front-end and [[ASP.NET]] in the back-end.{{cn|date=January 2015}} The Silverlight front-end was replaced with HTML5 in SQL Server 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|last=MikeRayMSFT|title=What's new in SQL Server 2019 - SQL Server|url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-ver15|access-date=2021-06-29|website=docs.microsoft.com|language=en-us}}</ref>

Master Data Services also includes certain features not available in the Stratature +EDM product.{{fact}} It gainsprovides a [[Web service]] interface to expose the data, as well as an [[API]], which internally uses the exposed web services, exposing the feature set, programmatically, to access and manipulate the data. It also integrates with [[Active Directory]] for authentication purposes. Unlike +EDM, Master Data Services supports [[Unicode]] characters, as well as support multilingual user interfaces.{{cn|date=January 2015}}

SQL Server 2016 introduced a significant performance increase in Master Data Services over previous versions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.faceofit.com/why-is-sql-server-2016-is-faster-than-ever|title=Why is SQL Server 2016 is Faster Than Ever|date=11 March 2016}}</ref>

== Terminology ==