Watch this Ask the Expert session to learn how to quickly deploy SAS® Viya® alongside SAS® 9 or SAS® Grid in Microsoft Azure.
Watch the webinar
Join Rohit Shetty and Conor Hogan as they discuss how to modernize your SAS® analytics platform to the cloud and complement your use of SAS® 9 with SAS® Viya®. They’ll cover best practices for setting up the optimal environment. Watch this webinar to learn:
- Why organizations are increasingly moving to Azure, and the benefits and common challenges they experience.
- What is required to get started.
- What is involved in the setup process.
The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.
What are the recommended instance types to use in Azure?
We recommend the E-series instances on Azure. The GitHub repo lists the instance sizes. GitHub - corecompete/sas94-viya
Can I use the Quickstarts to deploy just one part – SAS 9 or SAS Viya, for example?
The Quickstart installs both the platforms. We can’t choose one. A simple workaround would be to launch both and then terminating the Viya platform.
Is the Quickstart something SAS has devised?
This is something that SAS has built and CoreCompete has expanded on the Quickstart in partnership with SAS.
Is it, Quickstarts, perhaps similar to Terraform scripts to enact infra as code?
It is similar, but not Terraform. This Quickstart is built using Azure Resource Manager templates.
What are the required licenses from SAS to deploy SAS service on Azure?
You need to be on SAS 9. There is not a specific license requirement to deploy in Azure. If you have an existing SAS license you should be able to deploy on Azure.
As we know SAS 9.4 deployment has certain post configuration activities which have to be performed in SAS Metadata and Environment Manager. Does Quick Start Automate this as well?
SAS solutions are not part of the Quickstart solution, but Enterprise Guide and Enterprise Miner are included. If you want to deploy another product in the same architecture, then you’ll need to update the plan file and you’ll have to do the post configuration yourself.
Does Quickstart for SAS 9 support just SAS 9 enterprise platform deployment or it supports broad range of SAS solution deployments as well?
SAS 9 enterprise platforms is the main deployment. SAS solutions are not part of this Quickstart.
Lustre File System was used in 9.4 M5, but it is SAS Workload Orchestrator in the 9.4M6. Do we also have SWO in Quickstart in case of 9.4 M6?
I think you are referring to LSF. Lustre is a Shared File System. For Grid Managed by Workload Orchestrator we will still need Lustre for the Shared File System.
When I create a resource in Azure, what is the name of the service to select?
I am not sure I understand the question. A variety of Azure resources are created by the Quickstart.
Why do you need a shared filesystem in the GRID deployment?
This is a system requirement for Grid as multiple machines need access to shared data in order to do the processing.
With this setup, do we need IAAS or this is a PAS cloud setup?
This relies on IAAS from Azure using Azure Templates. The SAS9/Viya Platform is then deployed on top.
Is the 2-3 hours run times the amount of waiting time to spin up Viya or Grid in Azure?
This would be a sample deployment time. That would include setting up the Azure Resources, servers, doing the deployment, and having all the services up and available.
Is there a minimum parameter size requirement?
Please refer the GitHub repo. GitHub - corecompete/sas94-viya
How would we ensure there is no security leakage and it is a closed network when we use Quickstart, any verification that can be done?
All the servers are sitting on private subnets. The only way you can access the environment is through the Bastian host.
While starting using Quickstart, you mentioned we can use IP address. In recent usage, the IP addresses are floating, i.e. they keep on changing. Can we use the domains or URLs instead?
Corporate customers will have a CIDR range which denotes a set of IP addresses. We can use a CIDR range to limit access to the world. The range will provide flexibility for floating IP addresses.
SAS Technical support confirmed that IIM (Visual Investigator) is not part of 3.5 quick start template, is it going to be part of Viya 4 quick start template if not do we have to update template on our own to include IIM?
We are planning to release Visual Investigator on Viya 4 later this year.
Is this a one-time process or a process that needs to repeat when Azure subscribers launch Viya or Grid?
We can launch as many environments as possible using the Quickstart. Each launch process will create a single hybrid SAS9.Grid & Viya or SAS9.4 & Viya environment.
When are we going to have a Viya 4 template? Is there a date for us to try it?
The are some terraform templates available on github.com/sassoftware today. We hope to have the Quickstart available by the end of February 2021, but that is subject to change.
How to you manage updates to the software deport? I mean new hotfixes and upgrade to the solution?
The Quickstart does not includes hotfixes & upgrades.
Can Quickstart also be used for updates or maintenances?
The Quickstart does not includes hotfixes & upgrades.
Do we accept a license agreement before we hit launch buttons?
No. But you do need a SAS license. For a full list of pre-reqs refer our GitHub repo. GitHub - corecompete/sas94-viya
What is the basic difference between SAS 9.4 and Viya?
This is a very broad question. One fundamental difference is Viya is built for the Cloud and can take advantage of Cloud Native capabilities such as elasticity, auto scaling.
How are GPU and process optimization done in time prediction with the huge amount of data?
I am not sure I understand this question. Please post a comment and I will get back to you.
Once installation is completed, how is security handled?
Security best practices are incorporated in the Quicktart, For example, TLS encryption, network security, bastion host etc.
Can we authenticate our developers and consumers back to our internal domain while SAS 9 or Viya is in Azure? (IWA and Kerberos)
Yes, on 9.4 you can use your PAM or SAML authentication pointing to your provider. You can have the SAS environment on Azure with your own internal authentication provider.
What user authentication is used?
For 9.4 we used local authentication on the server. For Viya it’s internal.
I was talking about Load Sharing Facility used in M5, will that not be available for Quickstart?
The Quickstart deploys an LSF Grid.
Our traditional SAS 9.4 installation on Azure VM guide contains 400%2B pages. Is there a shorter version for it or do we have to go through the same guide?
I am pretty sure we don’t need to go through 400 pages to deploy SAS on Azure. I have not seen this guide.
What’s the upgrade path like from Viya 3.5 to 4.0?
We have robust upgrade tools available. Please reach out to your account rep to learn more.
If we'd like to try the Quickstart, is using Lustre as storage solution must?
Yes, that is what’s provided out of the box. If you don’t want to use it, you’ll have to move the files to the other storage system you want to use and then terminate the Lustre Cluster.
Can you add compute nodes at a later time?
Yes, you can add as many as you need.
Is the Quickstart template stored in JSON format?
Yes
Will this Quickstart install ssl like https for SAS Studio clients and SAS Environment manager?
Yes, that is part of the automated process.
With SAS Quickstarts, can customer choose to use either Linux or Windows as the OS for computing server?
It only supports Linux.
Will the Quickstart support SAS multi-tier architecture environment?
Yes, it supports multi-tier architecture for 9.4 and Viya.
Is there a command line administration in Azure much like in Linux?
Yes. There is an Azure CLI.
Does it mean every time we launch an environment, it will take 2-3 hours to spin them up?
Creation of new environments take around 2 to 3hrs. Once launched the environments can be stopped and started again in under 30 mins.
Can the source data still be on premise or does it have to be on Azure too?
The source data can be anywhere. The Quickstart provides a disk, an Azure file share and Azure Blobstorage. Once the Quickstart is launched, you can bring the data into any of those three places. You will have to configure any database connections once the Quickstart is launched.
In the template, if we don't use containers during installation, is there a count limit and expiration for the license file?
You have to use a resource group and the deployment will happen in a single resource group. If you are launching multiple environments, you need to stay within your SAS license limitations.
Will SAS Viya be an off-the- shelf self-service App in the Azure cloud or need a contract to use it?
Currently there is still a license requirement. We are working with Azure cloud to deliver an off-the-shelf solution for customers.
How do you combine Power BI and SAS VAVS in building data viz tools? are they competitive apps or apps that can be integrated?
They will remain separate products, but we are working with Microsoft to leverage the strengths of both platforms.
Where can I find a list of SAS solutions which can be run (today) on SAS Viya 4.0 or release dates for RISK solutions?
Core Solutions:
SAS Visual Analytics
SAS Visual Statistics
SAS Visual Machine Learning
SAS Visual Data Science
SAS Data Science Programming
SAS Visual Data Science Decisioning
SAS Visual Forecasting
SAS Visual Text Analytics
SAS Intelligent Decisioning
SAS Event Stream Processing
SAS Event Stream Processing for Edge Computing
SAS Econometrics
SAS Optimization
SAS Model Manager
SAS Industry Taxonomies
SAS Risk Modeling Add-on to SAS Visual Machine Learning
Risk Solutions w/Timeline:
SAS Risk Engine
SAS Risk Modeling – March 2021
SAS Risk Cirrus: Model Risk Management – June 2021
SAS Risk Cirrus: Asset Liability Management – Summer 2021
Dates are tentative and subject to change
Recommended Resources
Quickstarts for SAS 9.4/Grid & Viya on Azure
Azure Quickstart Templates in GitHub
Quickstarts For SAS® 9/Grid and SAS® Viya 3.5 in Microsoft® Azure
Cloud Analytics: Evolving your SAS Analytics to the Cloud
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