OBIEE12c and Embedded Essbase 12c - An Initial Look at Query Acceleration Use-Case

info@rittmanmead.com www.rittmanmead.com @rittmanmead
OBIEE12c and Embedded Essbase 12c
An Initial Look at Query Acceleration Use-Case
Mark Rittman, CTO, Rittman Mead
January 2016 -

info@rittmanmead.com www.rittmanmead.com @rittmanmead 2
•Oracle BI and DW Gold partner

•Winner of ﬁve UKOUG Partner of the Year awards in 2013 - including BI

•World leading specialist partner for technical excellence,  
solutions delivery and innovation in Oracle BI

•Approximately 80 consultants worldwide

•Oﬃces in US (Atlanta), Europe

•Skills in broad range of supporting Oracle tools:

‣Essbase, Oracle OLAP

‣GoldenGate

‣Endeca

‣OBIEE, OBIA, ODIEE

‣Big Data, Hadoop, NoSQL & Big Data Discovery
About Rittman Mead

•Latest release of Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

‣Visual Analyzer - key new end-user feature

‣Data mashups - allow users to add data to their own subject area

‣Updated look and feel for Answers, Dashboards etc

‣Layered RPD customizations

•Simpler conﬁguration + cloning etc

•Installer includes option, as per 11g,  
to install Essbase alongside OBIEE

‣So what does Essbase look like in 12c?
OBIEE 12.2.1 - Initial Release of OBIEE 12c

•Essbase has been supported a datasource for OBIEE since OBIEE10g

‣BI Server translates Logical SQL queries against RPD into MDX

‣Speciﬁc MDX function calls can be passed through (EVALUATE etc)

‣Incremental improvements over years to better support Essbase speciﬁcs)

•Hyperion Planning & HFM also supported as sources

•SmartView ships with OBIEE with 
dual Essbase/OBIEE connectivity
Essbase and OBIEE Integration Since OBIEE 10g

•Use OBIEE as the Management Reporting platform for both EPM and Essbase

•Essbase and Hyperion Planning as datasources

‣HFM via EAL

•Replace EPM reporting/dashboard tools

‣WebAnalysis

‣Visual Explorer

•Tighter integrations with Financial Reports

•Integrate BI into EPM Workspace

•Extend SmartView to OBIEE
Integration Between The Product Planned from Day 1

•Access data in Essbase cube to add as measures / attributes in report

•Combine (federate) with other datasets (relational, Hadoop etc)

•Include planning data with actuals in BI dashboard

•Make use of Essbase calculations and forecasts for BI data
Oracle Essbase as a Data Source for OBIEE

•OBIEE from version 10g connects to Essbase Server as a data source

‣OBIEE11g min Essbase release 11.1.1.3

‣OBIEE12c min Essbase release 11.1.2.+

•Optional pass-through of Essbase username/password

‣Leverage Essbase data filters and meta filters for row-level security

•Separate OBIEE and Essbase security models

‣SSO possible but one-way only

‣Uses CSS Token generated by BI Server

•Minimum integration but max flexibility

‣Standard approach for most use-cases
Connecting OBIEE (BI Server) to an Essbase Server
Oracle BI Server 
Component
Physical 
SQL, MDX
BI Presentation Server 
Component
Oracle BI Repository 
Logical Business 
Model
Read model
Logical SQL Results
HTTP(S)
User requests 
from dashboard,
ad-hoc queries etc
Results
Standalone 
Essbase Server
Shared Services 
for User / Roles

•As well as being sold separately and as part of Oracle EPM Suite, it can also be licensed as
part of a complete Oracle BI Foundation platform

‣Sold as a tightly-integrated OLAP server well-suited to sales reporting-type scenarios

•Co-installed with OBIEE and Oracle RTD

•Omits features such as Shared Services 
and applications such as Planning, to  
focus solely on BI-type scenarios

•Most of as assumed this was just  
packaging and cross-selling from Oracle, 
Essbase would still just be Essbase…
Essbase Server Packaged with OBIEE - BI Foundation

•Essbase in this scenario is all about BI - making OBIEE faster and more fully-featured

•Adds an enterprise-class OLAP server to the stack, deeply integrated

‣Goes one-better than Tableau, Qlikview etc - ASO in-mem OLAP vs. simple query cache

•All integration work in this context is about making BI run better, 
not replacing Essbase-speciﬁc tools or removing EPM Suite

•And the primary use case is query acceleration
‣Faster Analysis and Calculations

‣Business Agility

‣Immediate Visibility

‣Adapt to changes

‣Accurate models
Essbase As Query Accelerator for OBIEE

•Runs the BI layer on a high-performance, multi-core, 1-2TB server

•In-memory cache used to accelerate the BI part of the stack

•OBIEE Summary Advisor identiﬁes aggregates based on  
previous queries, creates in TT or DB12c In-Mem

•Uses Oracle TimesTen for Exalytics, or Oracle 12c DB In-Mem Option

‣Consistent response times for queries

‣In-memory caching of aggregates

‣40 cores for high concurrency

‣Re-engineered BI and OLAP software 
that assumes 40 cores and 1TB RAM

•Works well, and can be great solution for IT-led projects
But … Isn’t This What Exalytics + TimesTen Was For?
ERP/Apps DW
Oracle BI
In-Memory DB/Cache

•Selectively creates aggregations that would have made historic queries run faster

‣Approach driven by limits on TimesTen memory on An Exalytics server

•Does not pre-compute all aggregations, and needs reﬁning and updating over time

•Coupled with TimesTen immaturity, in hindsight not a great solution
Limitations with the Summary Advisor / TT Approach

•Use Essbase ASO engine to provide the aggregation / calculation features for OBIEE

•Potential to aggregate and load the entire RPD dataset into ASO - very space-eﬃcient

•No need to continuously identify aggregate candidates - aggregate everything

•Fast ASO aggregation times compared to TT - quicker to refresh

•Sounds great - why not try this?
Another Option : Essbase As Query Accelerator

•OBIEE 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 introduced Aggregate Persistence into Essbase

‣OBIEE’s Administration tool had the  
ability to deﬁne aggregates, and then  
persist them in an RDBMS

‣BI Server then uses these aggregates  
to speed up dashboard queries

•This OBIEE bundle patch enabled  
storage of these aggregates in an  
Essbase ASO database, using  
headless Essbase Studio
OBIEE 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 : Aggregate Persistence in Essbase
Oracle BI Server 
Component
Physical 
SQL, MDX
Physical 
MDX
BI Presentation Server 
Component
Logical Business 
Model
Read model
Logical SQL Results
HTTP(S)
User requests 
from dashboard,
ad-hoc queries etc
Pre-computed aggregated
data, stored in an Essbase
ASO database
Detail-level, and dynamically-
calculated 
aggregate data

1. Developer/Administrator selects slice of business model to aggregate

2. Aggregate Persistence Wizard then creates a logical SQL script

3. Script is processed by BI Server using nqcmd and the BI Server ODBC client

4. BI Server uses Essbase Studio dmaservlet to create ASO outline, and rules ﬁle

5. Detail-level data sourced via BI Server logical model through to source databases
How Did Aggregate Persistence in OBIEE11g Work?
Logical Business 
Model
Oracle BI Server 
Component
nqcmd script 
containing logical 
DDL and DML for 
creating and populating 
aggregate tables
Logical SQL 
via BI Server 
ODBC interface
Physical 
SQL, MDX
Create outline
Read model Add aggregates
Essbase Studio dmaservlet
XML request SQL queries
Data load via 
Essbase rules file
Essbase Server
Developer uses 
BI Administrator 
tool to select  
aggregates for  
creation, with an  
output of a logical  
SQL script for DDL  
and DML
1
2
3
4
5

•OBIEE 11.1.1.6, and the 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 bundle patch, included Essbase + administration 
tools as part of the install bundle, but these are not by default enabled

•Needs to be patched to 11.1.1.6.2 BP1, then installed using options in a reponse ﬁle

•Conﬁgures Essbase as part of the OBIEE domain, with EAS and Studio also available

•Narrow use-case : only for Aggregate Persistence, cannot scale-up, repurpose etc
Combined Install of OBIEE and Essbase with 11.1.1.6.2 BP1
[DATAMART_AUTOMATION]
ESSBASE_STUDIO_URL = "http://localhost:9080/dma/dmaservlet";
ESSBASE_SERVER = "localhost";
DMA_DATABASE = "DMA_DB";

•From OBIEE 11.1.1.7, Essbase was now an install option  
within the OBIEE product installer

‣Has to be licensed separately, or as part of BI Foundation

•Installs Essbase Server, Essbase Studio,  
Financial Reporting and other BI-related/complementary  
tools alongside OBIEE

•Management of Essbase Server, Security, start/stop etc 
all from single Enterprise Manager farm
OBIEE 11.1.1.7 : Integration of Essbase into OBIEE Tech Stack

•Essbase can be stopped, started, restarted from EM via OPMN

•Essbase metrics reported on from EM

•Integrated security tools via OPSS  
application roles and policies
Essbase within Oracle BI Domain - EM Management

•EPM Workspace integration returns with OBIEE 11.1.1.7!

•SSO via shared OPSS (FMW) security

•Launch BI content from within Workspace

•Store FR reports in Catalog (must launch from 
EPM Workspace though,  
not from OBIEE dashboard)
The Return of EPM Workspace Integration

•From OBIEE 11.1.1.7, SmartView can now be used with OBIEE for Oﬃce integration

•Ability to create new reports as well as analyze Catalog content via Excel, Word etc

•Replaces BI Oﬃce (and original SmartView from OBIEE 10g)
SmartView Compatibility across Essbase and OBIEE

•Also introduced new Logical SQL features for 
Essbase cube spin-oﬀ from RPD

‣Command-line only in this release

‣Created an Essbase cube sourced from RPD 
logical SQL query

‣Wired Essbase cube back into RPD

‣But didn’t deal with any of the Essbase 
member naming incompatibilities
OBIEE 11.1.1.7 - Introduction of (Beta) Cube Spin-oﬀ

23
•Technical Enhancements driven by product direction
Essbase Product Drivers 2013-2015
• Calc language enhancements

• Facilitate goal seeking, tgt setting

• Incremental ﬁnancial logic

• Data in varying time granularities

• Financial aggregation logic
• Transparent introduction into the
semantic model

• Query performance

• MDX enhancements

• BI query acceleration

• Rapid scenario modeling
• Smaller footprint

• Reduce downtime

• Self-tuning

• Auto-recovery
BI CloudEPM

•Essbase12c release out soon, will be delivered initially as part of Essbase Cloud Service

‣Part of Oracle PaaS, alongside DBaaS, BICS, PBCS etc

‣New Essbase database web based administration tool

‣Quick database creation by uploading an Excel spreadsheet

‣Scenario management - Lightweight workﬂow

•Sandboxing - Create a personal slice of the database

•New Java based architecture optimised for Oracle Cloud

‣Designed to support higher concurrency

‣Elimination of SEC ﬁle

‣Managed within Weblogic console

‣Part of either EPM or BI Domain
Essbase 12c - Re-Engineered for the Cloud
CDS
Scenario
Management
Thin Client
Editor
Catalog
Java
Agent
Dynamic
Filters
DBX
Drill
Through
Scripting: R,
Groovy,
JACL
Data
Source Grid UI
APS
Java API, REST and Web
Services
Unified Engine
(ASO/BSO)
Background Write
In-Place Write
…

•Combines the ﬂexibility of BSO models with ASO performance

•BSO traditionally used for r/w planning-type applications, typically now in-memory

•ASO used for rack-and-stack BI-type applications, level 0-writes only

•Hybrid takes ASO engine and layers ASO aggs over BSO level-0 blocks

•100% backward compatible with existing BSO databases

•Translates BSO calc scripts to MDX functions

•Can run in-memory

•Part of a move towards a single Essbase engine (over time…)
BSO/ASO Hybrid Aggregation Mode

•A selected member which will collect the data from rejected records of the dimension

•Ensures that totals presented by Essbase after data load match source system totals

‣Previously, Essbase totals would reﬂect just the members that loaded OK

‣Renegate member feature ensures all values are loaded, if only into new “others” bucket
New In Essbase 12c - Renegade Members
Prod (G3,L0)
P1
P2
Geog (G3,L0)
G1
G2
Prod Geog Measure
P1 G1 1
P2 G1 3
P1 G2 5
P2 G3 7
P2 G4 2
P3 G4 1
P3 G2 2
Query RDBMS Essbase Essbase
with RM
Select Prod, SUM(Data) 
From Fact, ProdDim 
Where Fact.Prod = ProdDim.Prod 
Group by Prod
P1, 6 
P2, 12
P1, 6 
P2, 3
P1, 6 
P2, 12
Select Geog, SUM(Data) 
From Fact, GeogDim 
Where Fact.Geog = GeogDim.Geog 
Group by Geog
G1, 4 
G2, 7
G1, 4 
G2, 5
G1, 4 
G2, 7
Geog/Prod P1 P2 _ProdRenegade
G1 1 3 #Missing
G2 5 #Missing 2
_GeogRenegade #Missing 9 1

•Remove most of the naming restrictions for Essbase

‣Object name length

‣Reserved words

‣Restrictions on characters

•Initial support will be restricted to JAPI and data  
loaded from SQL sources

•Signiﬁcant change in behavior, currently aimed at  
BI Query Acceleration use-cases
New in Essbase 12c - Relaxed Naming Restrictions

•Early access to Essbase 12c, running co-located alongside OBIEE12c in FMW12c

‣Essbase 12c Java agent running in WLS Managed Server

•Aimed solely at BI query acceleration - for other use-cases use standalone Essbase 11g

•Hybrid Agg Mode for faster dynamic calculations

•Improvements to BSO performance

•Ease of integration with 3rd party tools  
(Cube Deployment Services)

•Up coming 12c enhancements

‣BI oriented outlines

‣BI speciﬁc features
Further Integration of Essbase into OBIEE12c Stack
11
Database: RCU Schemas
Admin Server Managed Server
Node Manager
BI System Components
BI Server BI Scheduler
BI Presentation Server
BI Java Host
Cluster Controller
Oracle Platform
Security Services
End Point Registry
WLSTDMSODL
Identity Store
Essbase Studio
MetadataConfiguration
Service Instance

•Component that is deployed with Essbase 12c

•Essbase BI acceleration wizard uses its API to create Essbase cubes

‣BI user creates Essbase cube based on BI business model metadata

‣CDS provides integration between the BI repository and Essbase Server

-Creates the Essbase cube definition in XML metadata format.

-Validates the cube definition

-Generates a rules file for each dimension

-Creates the cube outline

-Loads metadata and data

-Wires back metadata mapping information to the BI repository
Cube Deployment Services

•UI for creating spin-oﬀ Essbase12c cubes from RPD business model

•Accessed via http://machine_name:port/cds/view

‣Same port number as /analytics

•Deﬁne cube, select dimensions and levels

•Some limited scope for customising cube

•Load, rebuild, drop cubes

•Cubes built using wizard can only be used as 
aggregate LTS sources in RPD, not general use
BI Acceleration Wizard

•Either click on Launch Essbase Acceleration Wizard link

•Or select Actions > New from Deployments Browser
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 1 : Launch Screen

•Select from BI Business Models that Essbase Server is co-located with

•Either type in a name for the new Essbase application, or select existing one to reload
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 2 : Select BM and Target App

•Select measures to include in Essbase cube

‣SUM, COUNT, and COUNT DISTINCT  
aggregation rules are supported

‣Derived measures are not supported, 
i.e. based on logical formula in RPD
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 3 : Select Measures

•Select dimensions to include in cube

‣Ragged hierarchies not supported
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 4 : Select Dimensions

•Select levels to include in aggregation

‣Include all, or just subset for skip-level aggregation

‣Just include top-most levels  
to accelerate totals
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 5 : Select Levels

•Review choices made in cube design

•Some limited opportunity to customise - add more logical columns

•See underlying storage settings

•Deploy cube, deploy in background
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 6 : Review and Deploy
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 4 : Select Dimensions

•As with all OBIEE aggregate persistence utilities, aggregates then wired back into RPD

•BI Server will then use Essbase source for query acceleration as appropriate

•Reload or redeploy from BI Acceleration Wizard
BI Accelerator Wizard Step 7 : Review Deployment
1
2
3

•MaxL can still be used to create and populate Essbase 12c in this scenario

‣MaxL Shell included with OBIEE12c install

•Supported approach, will work

•But BI Acceleration Wizard is how  
you’re supposed to build cubes for now
But … Can We Still Build Essbase Cubes Manually?

•A separate install of Essbase Administration Services can be connected to this Essbase 12c

•Allows you (in an unsupported, workaround way) to use EAS with co-located Essbase 12c
But … Can We Still Build Essbase Cubes Manually?

•Yes - and this is the recommended approach for showing Essbase data in OBIEE12c

‣Query accelerator is “behind the scenes” and invisible to end users

•Minimum supported version of Essbase is 11.1.2+
… And Can We Still Access Standalone Essbase?

•Latest version available as an on-premise, standalone install

‣As shipping with Exalytics, EPM Suite etc

•Recent enhancements to core Essbase server include

‣In-Place write reduces database fragmentation

‣Continue to enrich the calc language

‣Background write deliver high performance for NFS with Exalytics

‣Anonymous data export

‣Controlled shutdown, eliminates most DB corruption issues

‣Smartview Calc Script launcher with context-aware substitution variables

‣Continues to be invested in and available as standalone OBIEE datasource

‣Minimum version supported by OBIEE12c is 11.1.2.x
Core Essbase Server 11.1.2.4 Recent New Features

•Does not handle more complex, and larger, RPDs - use with caution

•Limited ability to customise storage settings for Essbase cube

•Not a solution for Essbase reporting or custom cubes - it’s all about query acceleration

•Treat as experimental and early access - it’s “supported” by

•In general, we recommend standalone Essbase 11g (11.1.2.+) for general Essbase reporting

•But … a taste of the future
Limitations in Initial Release

OBIEE12c and Embedded Essbase 12c - An Initial Look at Query Acceleration Use-Case

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