Hi Roger,
This is not an official SAS explanation, but here are some basic ideas I have on the subject. The term metadata translates loosely as "data about your data" -- the reason its tricky to define is because its so fundamental to other definitions. It's sort of like defining a "point" in Euclidean geometry. We all know what a point is... but providing a definition that isn't wishy-washy is tough. Maybe the best way to understand metadata is to look at some examples:
Things that are metadata: name, type, and length of each column in a SAS data set; the location of different servers defined for SAS to use; users and groups that have permission to access SAS; names and locations of tables in a SAS folder; libraries defined for SAS to use; system options and settings
Things that are NOT metadata: values in a table... this would be data, not metadata.
Hopefully this helps a little. Metadata is sort of everything you interact with in a SAS platform environment except data values.
A metadata server is what holds all of this cool information in one or more metadata repositories. It keeps everything talking to everything else. When you submit a SAS program for example, the metadata server would figure out if you have the appropriate permissions to access the tables and columns in question, figure out what server the SAS code will execute on, and so forth. The server that does the heavy lifting, i.e. that runs the SAS code, is referred to as the Workspace server.
In a SAS platform environment where you have a metadata server etc., of course there are still SAS data sets. Rather than existing out in some random corner of a hard drive until you submit a LIBNAME statement, SAS data sets in a SAS platform environment are typically registered in the metadata. That means anyone with the appropriate permissions can find them easily, whether the machine they're stored on is 10 feet or 10,000 miles away.
Enterprise Solutions (I believe... not an expert on this) are basically off-the-shelf software products designed for specific business needs. For example, SAS Anti-Money Laundering is an Enterprise Solution we sell. The word "enterprise" means that people across your organization with different backgrounds and business needs can access it. A piece of SAS code which you write would be a "solution" to a problem, but not one that's easily translated into a large-scale application for use across the organization.
For more information, someone in SAS sales, SAS tech support, or SAS education would be a great resource for better understanding how these terms apply to what problems you're trying to solve with you SAS software.
Richard
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