SAS Foundation (Base SAS) Vs SAS BI Tools how they differ in Connecivity to Server exceuting any Job

[sasprofile]

Hi All

I always get confused when someone ask me about the differences between SAS Foundation(Base SAS) Vs SAS BI Suite products how they connecting when , I know each and every tool functionality to some extent. But still  confusion when it comes to their connection Local/Server, I raised this question to some folks but they could not even explain it properly.

Where exactly SAS Foundation and SAS BI Suite Environment differs connection wise locally and Remote.

Why SAS Services like Metadata Server, Compute Server and Midtier servers will get used by BI Tools (SAS EG, Information map, SAS WRS, Information delivery, SAS EM..etc) and which will not be needed for Base SAS to execute any Job. If Base wont connect to Servers like BI Tools then where do they connect to execute the sas code.

People always say when you have Installed SAS Foundation means it comes with Suite of Base SAS components and  which will connect only locally, locally means they do not connect
to any SAS Servers (Meta, Compute servers).
If they connect locally means where to they connect...Where the code will execute ? When you submit a code in SAS EG normally it connects to metadatserver then it authenticates then connects to objectspawner which spawns a workspace session to execute the job...so same way base sas how it connects.

My understanding is BI tools when they want to interact with third party data bases they need these servers, but where as base sas interacting with local files such as (.txt,ms office files) so they don't need to connect to any sas servers, just foundation is enough to support the sas file...am I correct here.

When you say SAS foundation is only local for Base SAS purpose then why those components will show up on linux server when you install complete SAS software and also when you check products with setinit in SAS EG it will show all foundation and BI tools.

and also SAS EG can be connected locally and to Server, when it connects locally  and when i submit job where and how the job will be executed locally without connecting to any server.

I would really appreciate if any one can answer my questions

Thank you in advance

[ChrisNZ]

Ok I'll try.

What you call SAS Foundation is the processing engine. It runs SAS code.

It is called Compute Server when integrated in the overall SAS architecture, but it runs fine on its own, and can be invoked in interactive mode (SAS Desktop), or in batch mode (to run programs from the shell or from a scheduler), or in server mode (see below).

The server mode is very versatile.

It can serve as a

- a compute server for a desktop SAS session using SAS/Connect 

- a compute server session for other clients (like SAS Enterprise guide or Java or Corba). It then uses an object spawner that requires a SAS/Integration Technologies licence rather than a SAS/Connect spawner) 

- a data server using for example SAS/SHARE or SAS/OLAP server for clients such as SAS clients or JDBC or or ODBC or OLEDB clients 

> ...which will connect only locally, locally means they do not connect to any SAS Servers (Meta, Compute servers).

That's not true as you can see above.

A SAS desktop session can open a server session provided a SAS/Connect spawner is listening on that server.

No other environment is needed.

Having said that, nowadays SAS is most commonly deployed as a suite, and a metadata server will manage things like users and servers and sessions, and therefore connecting to this server is a requirement to establishing further connections.

>SAS EG can be connected locally and to Server, when it connects locally  and when i submit job where and how the job will be executed locally without connecting to any server.

In this case, EG connects to a SAS instance installed on the same PC as EG. If you do this, you see a sas.exe session running to serve each EG session. 

I hope this clarifies things.

[sasprofile]

Thanks a lot ChrisNZ for detailed explanation, I really appreciate that.

Could you please clarify some of my below questions

Just by installing SAS Foundation, If SAS Foundation is able to server  most of the users purpose (like programming with SAS Base for analysis and reporting, connecting to Databases...etc) then why Companies need to spent alot on licensing on BI Intelligence Platform...(I heard and have seen most of the companies using  SAS Enterprise guide alot...using very least other BI tools)

So Just by licensing component like SAS/Connect, SAS Shared services, users will be able to use all BI tools like SAS EG..etc..why they need to SAS  Server license.

You mentioned just by installing  SAS Foundation, In batch mode it will run programs from the shell or from a scheduler...you mean running from command promt batch mode.

SAS 9.x Intelligence Platform (Metadata-Managed Install) Install when compared with Basic SAS Foundation Install, What kind of benefits users will have ? what are the features SAS Foundation itself cannot do when compared to SAS BI tools.

[ChrisNZ]

> why Companies need to spent alot on licensing on BI Intelligence Platform

Mainly to manage metadata and data and users, and then to allow client such as EG to connect.

>   shell or from a scheduler...you mean running from command promt batch mode.

shell = command prompt environment

> what are the features SAS Foundation itself cannot do when compared to SAS BI tools.

See my first reply above.

Benefits for your specific case may vary. It's not all benefits either.

As a developer, you lose a lot of features for example when going from SAS Desktop to a end-user interface like EG.

Talk to your SAS representative to assess the best match for your needs.

[sasprofile]

Does SAS Studio works locally without installing sas mid-tier ?

[ChrisNZ]

> Does SAS Studio works locally without installing sas mid-tier ?

No. SAS Studio -like EG- is just an interface that runs in the browser. It does nothing. You need a server.

[sasprofile]

But I have seen SAS Studio connecting to localhost, on which when I ran proc setinit, Its displaying SAS Foundation products on right hand window (Base SAS, SAS/STAT, SAS Integration Tech...etc) and left hand side under Files and Folder displaying Folder shorcuts, C:\, F:\ and Z:\ drives.
So does it not mean that sas studio can connect to local server where sas foundation is installed. We have SAS Workspace server for local access also , may be is it working with SAS workspace server for local access if not SAS Foundation with local access.

[ChrisNZ]

Not too sure what yo mean.

> So does it not mean that sas studio can connect to local server

Yes

[sasprofile]

I have been told that SAS Studio can connect locally like SAS EG but its SAS StudioSingleuser version not the SAS Studio Midtier version.

SAS Studio comes in 3 different versions

SAS Studio Basic - It connects to Foundation and when we install and configure this we can run studio using vi url also

SAS Studiosingle user - It connects to SAS Foundation but with this url will not come

SAS Studio Server based (Midtier) - It connects to Server and it works via url

let me know if the abover info what I found is correct

[SASKiwi]

> why Companies need to spent alot on licensing on BI Intelligence Platform

Server-based SAS scales to enterprise volumes of data, something desktops can't do. Once you have more than say 10-15 desktop licenses of SAS it actually is cheaper switching to server-based SAS using EG / SAS Studio. Plus you can also manage your SAS infrastructure centrally.