Good morning. I was reading a bit on sas and i was wondering when we start base sas, from a fresh installation, it isn't connected to any server by default right?
And do we need a log in and password to join a server?
Can someone explain the concept of sas server to me please? Does it serve to store files or to run the codes and processes? If I want to join a server I will need to have the server log in and password or be on the network?
What happens if I accidentally join a wrong server? Can that happen?
Are files stored on a server kept in perpetuity or do they have a lifespan after which they are removed?
@Sweetpea wrote: Good morning. I was reading a bit on sas and i was wondering when we start base sas, from a fresh installation, it isn't connected to any server by default right?
And do we need a log in and password to join a server?
Depends on how it's set up. I believe you can have both options set up so that you start up and are connected automatically or it can be set up to require a log in.
Also, depending on the installation it can have single sign on set up or not.
Can someone explain the concept of sas server to me please? Does it serve to store files or to run the codes and processes? If I want to join a server I will need to have the server log in and password or be on the network?
A SAS server is SAS running on a server, which has much more storage ability, typically terabytes, and more RAM, and more processors. So it's typically used for when you're dealing with large data sets and have large amounts of people accessing these data sets.
The idea being, you write code to process 30GB of data, SAS will send the code from your computer to the server and it runs on the server. You can either have your computer wait for the results back or it can continue to do other things depending on how you've set up the program/job. Then once the results are ready they are sent back to your computer or you can access them on the server.
Regarding password/login/network - that all depends on set up. SAS Academics on Demand is SAS Studio which access SAS servers that are hosted on servers around the world.
You need to log in to the website but it handles everything else from there on.
What happens if I accidentally join a wrong server? Can that happen?
If you connect to multiple you could join the wrong server, but you would disconnect I assume or log out and re-log in to correct server. Again depends on how your installation is set up.
Are files stored on a server kept in perpetuity or do they have a lifespan after which they are removed?
Retention settings are also set by the SAS administrator. Typically files are stored in perpetuity but we would get alerts once we hit a certain storage capacity or when data sets were older than 5 years and then we were expected to deal with it.
So most of these are 'it depends on how it's set up and there are various options that allow you to control these settings'
@Sweetpea wrote: Good morning. I was reading a bit on sas and i was wondering when we start base sas, from a fresh installation, it isn't connected to any server by default right?
And do we need a log in and password to join a server?
Can someone explain the concept of sas server to me please? Does it serve to store files or to run the codes and processes? If I want to join a server I will need to have the server log in and password or be on the network?
What happens if I accidentally join a wrong server? Can that happen?
Are files stored on a server kept in perpetuity or do they have a lifespan after which they are removed?
@Sweetpea wrote: Good morning. I was reading a bit on sas and i was wondering when we start base sas, from a fresh installation, it isn't connected to any server by default right?
And do we need a log in and password to join a server?
Depends on how it's set up. I believe you can have both options set up so that you start up and are connected automatically or it can be set up to require a log in.
Also, depending on the installation it can have single sign on set up or not.
Can someone explain the concept of sas server to me please? Does it serve to store files or to run the codes and processes? If I want to join a server I will need to have the server log in and password or be on the network?
A SAS server is SAS running on a server, which has much more storage ability, typically terabytes, and more RAM, and more processors. So it's typically used for when you're dealing with large data sets and have large amounts of people accessing these data sets.
The idea being, you write code to process 30GB of data, SAS will send the code from your computer to the server and it runs on the server. You can either have your computer wait for the results back or it can continue to do other things depending on how you've set up the program/job. Then once the results are ready they are sent back to your computer or you can access them on the server.
Regarding password/login/network - that all depends on set up. SAS Academics on Demand is SAS Studio which access SAS servers that are hosted on servers around the world.
You need to log in to the website but it handles everything else from there on.
What happens if I accidentally join a wrong server? Can that happen?
If you connect to multiple you could join the wrong server, but you would disconnect I assume or log out and re-log in to correct server. Again depends on how your installation is set up.
Are files stored on a server kept in perpetuity or do they have a lifespan after which they are removed?
Retention settings are also set by the SAS administrator. Typically files are stored in perpetuity but we would get alerts once we hit a certain storage capacity or when data sets were older than 5 years and then we were expected to deal with it.
So most of these are 'it depends on how it's set up and there are various options that allow you to control these settings'
@Sweetpea wrote: Good morning. I was reading a bit on sas and i was wondering when we start base sas, from a fresh installation, it isn't connected to any server by default right?
And do we need a log in and password to join a server?
Can someone explain the concept of sas server to me please? Does it serve to store files or to run the codes and processes? If I want to join a server I will need to have the server log in and password or be on the network?
What happens if I accidentally join a wrong server? Can that happen?
Are files stored on a server kept in perpetuity or do they have a lifespan after which they are removed?
Thank you so much for your reply. It was very educative.
I have a few more questions based on the explanation you gave.
Is the data usually accessible to everyone on that server? Or just to the one who uploaded it?
What is the usual speed the file tends to get imported to the server if I am opening it from my computer? Is it more or less same as any file speed I would upload in general elsewhere? Or usually slower?
If someone uploads a data on a server how does the server usually record it? Is it as the log in details used or the ip etc.
And you mentioned that there is a notification for data more than five years. Is it to the user or to the server admin or to the sas admins?
And finally when someone imports a data file and tries to open it on sas is the WORK set as default usually? Ie temporary usage which is removed once sas closed?
Is the data usually accessible to everyone on that server? Or just to the one who uploaded it?
Depends on settings. Data in the work library is accessible to only that user typically.
Data in other libraries/folders depends on the permissions set up by an administrator. You would typically have multiple libraries to work with, each with it's own set of security protocols.
What is the usual speed the file tends to get imported to the server if I am opening it from my computer? Is it more or less same as any file speed I would upload in general elsewhere? Or usually slower?
Typically in that scenario you need to upload a data set to the server or use SAS/CONNECT to migrate the file over. Speed is based on your network speed, so a relative comparison isn't particularly helpful.
If someone uploads a data on a server how does the server usually record it? Is it as the log in details used or the ip etc.
Sorry, not sure about this one. I'm sure it's logged somewhere but no idea what is tracked. Typically on a corporate network I assume every thing is traceable.
And you mentioned that there is a notification for data more than five years. Is it to the user or to the server admin or to the sas admins?
That was an example of how a SAS system I worked on was set up. This depends entirely on how the SAS administrator sets up the system. Not even sure it's SAS that sends those notifications, but in my use case, it went to the user for data in our libraries.
And finally when someone imports a data file and tries to open it on sas is the WORK set as default usually? Ie temporary usage which is removed once sas closed?
That depends on the code/process and is controllable. Personally, I import my data and save it in a library directly with the _raw in the file name so I know it's the original file. This prevents me from having to upload the data set multiple times.
For most of your question the answer is the same - it depends on how it's set up. Administrators have a variety of options and settings when setting up a server and it depends on needs. For example, in my industry 7 years data retention is required and beyond that must be removed for legal reasons. So our 'older' data is very much a moving target that literally changes every month.
Thank you for your time in answering my questions. It has allowed me to get a good idea of the software and the roles of the server.
As you said the main thing is how the set up was done.
I still have a last doubt regarding this. By default if I am installing Sas, without me loading any additional files(for servers) , it will come as unconnected then I need to get it connected manually during the set up process or after the set up. Is that what you meant rite?
That may also depend. SAS has deployment packages and usually an IT administrator sets it up and installs it - you definitely need administrator rights on the machine. In some places I've worked I've had to set up the connection and in others the installation package from IT set up everything.
Just curious if I accidentally enter a wrong server and run my data etc, what does the server admin do once they realize it? Remove it directly? Or can they contact me to let me know?
@Sweetpea wrote: Just curious if I accidentally enter a wrong server and run my data etc, what does the server admin do once they realize it? Remove it directly? Or can they contact me to let me know?
A diligent admin sets all permissions so that a user can't cause harm or see data that they're not supposed to see.
If you are allowed to access a certain server, the admin won't bother if you actually use it. Your data becomes your responsibility, the admin will also set quotas so that you cannot use more space than you're allowed to.
You're given permissions to specific servers so those are the ones you're able to access.
If you're accessing one you shouldn't that's very likely to become a privacy incident/breach and if you're in North America or Europe there are usually clear processes at companies on what to do with a privacy incident/breach.
