Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:16, 8 April 2010

Revision as of 10:11, 5 August 2010

Line 9:

Like other MDM products, Bulldog aims to create a centralized data source and keep it synchronized, and thus reduce redundancies, across the applications which process the data. With this aim, Bulldog integrates with end user applications like [[Microsoft Office Excel]], [[Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server]] and [[Microsoft Office SharePoint Server]], while other backend technologies like [[Windows Communication Foundation]] and [[ADO.NET Entity Framework]].<ref name="roadmap"/>

Sharing the architectural core with Stratature +EDM, Bulldog 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]].<ref name="roadmap"/> 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 Bulldog runtime. Bulldog does not impose any limitation on the data model. Bulldog also allows custom ''Business rules'', which are used tofor validatevalidating and sanitizesanitizing 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]].<ref name="roadmap"/>

Bulldog 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. Bulldog 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. Bulldog also includes a web-based UI for viewing and managing the data. It uses [[AJAX]] in the front-end and [[ASP.NET]] in the back-end.<ref name="roadmap"/>