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InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics

Overview of InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics

InterSystems IRIS® Adaptive Analytics is an optional extension that provides a business-oriented, virtual data model layer between InterSystems IRIS and popular Business Intelligence (BI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) client tools. It includes an intuitive user interface for developing a data model in the form of virtual cubes where data can be organized, calculated measures consistently defined, and data fields clearly named. By having a centralized common data model, enterprises solve the problem of differing definitions and calculations to provide their end users with one consistent view of business metrics and data characterization.

Adaptive Analytics provides the following key features:

  • The Adaptive Analytics modeler, which makes data accessible for business users without exposing complex data structures, tables, or relationships.

  • Publication of data model changes as virtual cubes, preventing disruption caused by lengthy rebuilds.

  • Unified access to an online analytical processing (OLAP) model via the BI tool of your choice.

  • Live connectivity to all data stored within InterSystems IRIS.

  • Automated data structure aggregation for frequently-used queries.

Adaptive Analytics is powered by AtScale®, a product of AtScale, Inc. For documentation of AtScale functionality, consult their official documentationOpens in a new tab. Note that only users licensed for InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics can view this documentation.

Set Up InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics

To set up InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics, you must complete the following steps:

  1. Install or upgrade an instance of AtScale

  2. Configure your InterSystems IRIS instance for Adaptive Analytics User-Defined Aggregate Functions

  3. Configure AtScale to integrate with your InterSystems IRIS instance

This section describes each step in the setup process in further detail. Troubleshooting provides guidance for common issues you may encounter during this process.

Install or Upgrade AtScale

InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics integrates your InterSystems IRIS instance with an AtScale installation. InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics uses the latest validated version of AtScale. This version is listed on the WRC software distribution pageOpens in a new tab, in the Version column for the Adaptive Analytics package.

In order to install or upgrade your instance of AtScale:

  1. Download the AtScale installation package appropriate for your operating system from the Components section of the WRC software distribution pageOpens in a new tab. Search for Adaptive Analytics in the Name column to find the available packages. The filename for the download has the form AdaptiveAnalytics-[AtScaleVersion]-[PlatformVersion].rpm or AdaptiveAnalytics-[AtScaleVersion]-[PlatformVersion].deb. where [AtScaleVersion] is the version of AtScale the package installs, and [PlatformVersion] is the operating system the package is for.

  2. Install or upgrade AtScale and then activate it by following the instructions provided in the official AtScale documentationOpens in a new tab.

Note:

When you purchase InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics, you should receive a separate AtScale license which is applied to the AtScale server. This license is required to activate AtScale. If you have any questions about your license, please contact an InterSystems sales representative.

After you have installed AtScale, import the Adaptive Analytics User-Defined Aggregate Functions to configure InterSystems IRIS Adaptive Analytics as described in the next section.

Configure InterSystems IRIS for Adaptive Analytics

The configuration instructions provided here will assume that you have already successfully installed InterSystems IRIS and configured your primary namespace and databases. If you have not done so, consult the instructions in the InterSystems IRIS Installation Guide and the Create/Modify a Namespace section of the System Administration Guide. These instructions also assume that you have already successfully installed the appropriate version of AtScale.

In order to leverage Adaptive Analytics User-Defined Aggregate Functions (UDAF), you must first import and register the UDAF class file available from the WRCOpens in a new tab with the following procedure:

  1. Download the latest Adaptive Analytics UDAF Package file (AdaptiveUDAF.xml) from the Components section of the WRC software distribution pageOpens in a new tab.

  2. On your Adaptive Analytics instance, log in to the Management Portal as a user with administrative privileges and ensure you are in your Adaptive Analytics namespace.

  3. Navigate to System Explorer > Classes and click Go.

  4. Click Import. In the modal window, select the My Local Machine option for the The import file resides on field and select the AdaptiveUDAF.xml file.

  5. Check the Compile imported items box and set the Compile flags to cuk. Click Import.

  6. Navigate to System Explorer > SQL. Execute the following command:

    CALL AtScaleUDAF.Register()

  7. To verify your configuration, navigate to System Explorer > SQL and execute the following query:

    SELECT ATSCALE_HONEYBEE_VERSION()

The configuration thus far will result in a system where aggregates are stored in the same database as source data. InterSystems strongly recommends separating aggregates so that they can be managed and assessed without needing to manually filter them from a more general data set. To separate aggregates from source data, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in to a Terminal session as a user with administrative privileges. Ensure you are in your Adaptive Analytics namespace.

  2. Call the following command to configure your aggregate database and global mappings:

     write ##class(AtScaleUDAF.Utils).CreateDatabase("/<instancePath>/mgr/AtScale/")

    Where <instancePath> is the full path to your Adaptive Analytics instance.

Configuring AtScale for Adaptive Analytics

After you have installed AtScale and configured InterSystems IRIS to use Adaptive Analytics User-Defined Aggregate Functions, configure AtScale according to the procedure described in Adding InterSystems IRIS Data WarehousesOpens in a new tab.

Troubleshooting Common Setup Issues

Design Center Does Not Load Upon First Login

The Design Center may fail to load the initial setup wizard upon first login, displaying a blank background instead. In such cases, ensure that the atscale.yaml file is properly configured to access the host using a publicly-routable, fully-qualified domain name. For further guidance, refer to the Advanced ConfigurationOpens in a new tab section in the AtScale installation documentation.

Service Registry (or Other Service) Fails to Start

An AtScale service may fail to start upon installation if the host has multiple private IP addresses. In such cases, you must bind the malfunctioning service to the specific private IP address which it should use. This can be accomplished by editing the service’s properties in the atscale.yaml file or by setting an environment variable; for detailed instructions, refer to the Advanced ConfigurationOpens in a new tab section in the AtScale installation documentation.

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