6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

Microstrategy interview questions

Top most important Microstrategy interview

questions and answers by Experts:
Here is a list of Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts.If you
want to download Microstrategy interview questions pdf free ,you can register with RVH techguru. Our
experts prepared these Microstrategy interview questions to accommodate freshers level to most
experienced level technical interviews.

If you want to become an expert in Microstrategy ,Register for Microstrategy online training
(http://rvhtech.com/microstrategy.html) here.

1) What are different types of metrics available in microstrategy?

Level Metric: Level metric defined the level at which the metric aggregates. By default it is the report
level. This is a bit huge concept and more information could be found in the manuals.

Transformation Metric: Transformation applied to a metric. Transformation is a schema object which is

used in a metric for time based analysis (Example: Year-over-Year, Month-to-Date, Year-to-Date, etc.).
There are two types of transformation – table based and expression based.

Pass through Metrics: Metric created using pass through functions (example: ApplySimple). Pass
through functions are executed at the database level.

Adaptive Metric: A metric defined on a fact which is mapped to two columns in two tables (detail and
aggregate) with different functions applied on both the colu mns. This is achieved with pass through
functions (ApplySimple and ApplyAgg).

Non-aggregate metric: By default metrics aggregate to a higher level based on the attributes on a
report, the default aggregate function is “sum”. This aggregation can be set to none, so that the metric
does not aggregate to any level.
Smart Metric: When a compound metric is defined with other metric objects using arithmetic operatic
(like sum(M1/M2)) the sub total of the metric can be calculated in multiple ways. Case where they are
calculated row by row are smart metric. Example: In the above example, if the total are calculated using
the mentioned expression, it is defined as smart metric – “Sum (M1) / Sum (M2)”

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 1/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

Derived Metric: A metric created within a report (local to that report) using the report objects of the
same report. Derived metric are OLAP services and are calculated on the I-Server and do not reflect in
the SQL. Example: If a report has two metrics, M1 and M2. A derived metric can be defined as M1+M2
or M1/M2 and so on.

Embedded Metric: Embedded metrics are objects whose definitions and object IDs are unique to and
exist only in the context of the MicroStrategy Report in which they reside. An embedded metric will
have a different object ID than that from which it originated. As its name implies, an embedded metric
does not exist outside the report object. In other words, that particular object’s definition and ID do not
exist independently in the metadata object info and object definition tables and, therefore, cannot be
used in other reports. Instead, the report definition contains an “embedded objects” folder as part of its
definition (not a freestanding folder), and the embedded metric exist only in this folder. This is not an
Derived metric. Embedded metrics are created when there exists a prompted filter in a conditional
metric and where the report is saved after answering those prompts. The metric will have same
definition as that of original metric but its ID will be different than that of the original metric. Hence any
changes made to the original metric will not be reflected to the report. You need to remove the
embedded metric and add again the original metric  1. What is MicroStrategy Intelligence Server™?
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is the industry’s most advanced, secure and scalable business
intelligence server.
2) What does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server allow users to do?
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provides reporting and OLAP analysis for the whole enterprise. All
business users can obtain scorecards and dashboards, operational reports, queries and OLAP and
predictive analyses without learning any programming or database syntax.

3) What are the benefi ts of using MicroStrategy Intelligence Server?

MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provides one centralzed architecture for all users’ monitoring,
reporting and analysis requirements. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server also provides scalability to
analyze any amount of data, support for any number of users and a 24 X 7 operating environment, with
robust security.

4) Does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server run on Windows®, UNIX®, or Linux®?

 MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is certified on Windows, UNIX, and Linux operating systems.
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server has been designed to be a completely open architecture built on
industry standards and compiled to run on multiple operating systems.

5) How do you ensure simultaneous releases across multiple operating systems?

 MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is engineered to be platform-independent on a single code base and
is simply compiled appropriately for each certified operating system. As a result, MicroStrategy can
release Intelligence Server on all certified operating systems at the same time with the same features.

6) Does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server run on 32-bit and 64-bit systems?

 Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provides an industry first — a common code base architecture
for all supported 32- and 64-bit operating systems. This single code base ensures that the latest

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 2/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

functionality is always available on all these operating systems at the same time.

7) What are the advantages of running a BI server on a 64-bit operating system?

 A BI application can access much greater memory resources when running on a 64-bit systems than it
could on a 32-bit system. More addressable memory results in more BI applications, more
sophisticated applications, more reports, larger reports, better performance and more users — all with
fewer servers. Organizations can combine MicroStrategy’s industry leading scalability with the
advantages of 64-bit UNIX to deploy the richest BI applications, with the highest performance and the
most users.
8) Do users need to learn any programming languages or database syntax to run business queries?
No, business users can run any query without learning any programming languages or database
syntax. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server automatically and appropriately processes all business
questions by accessing a report cache or Intelligent Cube, or by generating dynamic SQL or MDX that is
optimized to each data source platform.
9) Can I deploy a single BI application in multiple languages?
 Yes. Every component of a BI application can be translated and presented in multiple languages,
including all MicroStrategy user interfaces, metadata objects such as the names of reports and
documents, and data within a data warehouse.

10) Can I access multiple data sources transparently from a single data model?
Yes. MicroStrategy MultiSource Option is a new and fully integrated add-on component of
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. It allows users to seamlessly report, analyze, and monitor data across
multiple sources through a single business model.

11)  What is a cache?

 A cache contains the properties and data of a report once a report has been run. Caches can be stored
in memory and/or on disk. When users ask for a report that is cached, the Intelligence Server will
retrieve the data from disk or memory instead of running a query on the data source. Cache creation
and usage securely leverages other users’ work, increases query performance and reduces the
workload on the data warehouse.

12) What are Intelligent Cubes?

Intelligent Cubes are in-memory caches stored by the Intelligence Server. While accessing an Intelligent
Cube, users can easily add or remove report objects (such as attributes and metrics), add new metric
calculations and filter their view of the data — all in an ad hoc fashion with speed-of-thought response
times. Data stored outside an Intelligent Cube is automatically accessed using the ROLAP engine when
drilling to more details.
13) Can MicroStrategy Intelligence Server access any amount of data?
Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server can scale to any amount of data by leveraging your database’s
strengths. Using Very Large Database (VLDB) drivers, MicroStrategy Intelligence Server automatically
tunes its operations to leverage the unique strengths of your database software and hardware.

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 3/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

14) Can MicroStrategy Intelligence Server scale easily and cost effectively based on my growing
needs?
Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provides out-of-the-box clustering capabilities that allow
corporations to leverage their initial investments and gradually scale as more users and data are added
to the system, or when different styles of BI are required.

15) Can my users perform on-demand analysis without any downtime?

Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provides complete fault tolerance and fail-over support to
maximize the uptime of your application.
16) Will my users get the performance they need?
 Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server maximizes system performance at all layers of your system.
Intelligence Server:

· Leverages the unique strengths of each database software and hardware using VLDB drivers.

· Uses four levels of report and dataset caching to optimize performance for documents, reports,
analyses and prompt lists.

· Increases analytic performance with its Intelligent Cubes. Users or administrators can schedule
creation or refreshing of    Intelligent Cubes during low usage time periods.

· Minimizes network traffic by sending users only the result sets they want to view.

17) What types of analysis does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server support?

MicroStrategy Intelligence Server users can easily perform simple to sophisticated analysis such as
basic performance indicators, market basket, churn, retention and decile analysis. Users can make use
of a complete library of statistical, mathematical, financial and OLAP functions. Other types of analysis
include hypothesis testing, regressions, neural networks, decision tress, clustering and bond
calculations.
18) Can I use my homegrown functions or integrate with existing third-party statistical and data
mining software?
Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server allows enterprises to integrate their homegrown functions as
well as third-party software using an advanced plug-and-play architecture. Predictive Models created
by third-party data mining software can also be imported using PMML (Predictive Markup Language).
19) What type of security does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provide?
 MicroStrategy Intelligence Server provides a highly robust security model at four different layers in
your system:

1.User level – Login and ID authentication ensure users have authorization to access the
    MicroStrategy system.
2.  Application level – Access control lists and user privileges ensure proper access to MicroStrategy
objects and functionality.

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 4/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

3. Data transmission level – Encryption and dual firewall configuration ensure safe transmission of
data.

4. Data level – Security filters ensure users access only the data they have authorization to view.
20) Can users access MicroStrategy Intelligence Server using LDAP, data source or Windows
authentication?
 Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server integrates with LDAP and Windows security systems. Users will
only need to login with their LDAP or Windows login to access MicroStrategy projects through
Intelligence Server.
21) Can my administrator easily maintain and manage MicroStrategy Intelligence Server?
Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server’s centralized architecture provides one console from which all
maintenance and administration can be performed. In addition, a standardized data dictionary for
enterprise reporting and OLAP analysis is stored in a metadata repository and enables reusable
reporting objects and business rules.
22) Does MicroStrategy have Windows- or UNIX-based administration tools?
MicroStrategy has both Windows- and UNIX-based administration tools. UNIX and Linux administration
is provided through a Java-based Control Center. Both the Windows administration tools and the Java-
based Control Center provide local or remote administration and monitoring of all Intelligence Servers
in the BI implementations.
23) What are the supported languages for MicroStrategy Intelligence Server?
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is available in English (US and UK), French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Portuguese (Brazilian), Swedish, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean and Japanese.

24) Does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server integrate with other system management software?
 Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server integrates with other system management software. In fact, all
inner statistics of Intelligence Server are published to Performance Monitor and diagnostic logs. As a
result, third-party system management software such as IBM® Tivoli® or CA’s Unicenter® can remotely
monitor these statistics.

25) Does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server support scheduling?

Yes, MicroStrategy Intelligence Server supports time-based and event-based schedules. These
schedules automatically trigger report execution and place a notification message in the user’s History
folder upon completion.

26) Why is MicroStrategy Intelligence Server better than competitor’s products?

MicroStrategy Intelligence Server wins over its competitors because it solves all issues that corporations
face when implementing a query, reporting and analysis solution. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
provides the solutions required for a successful enterprise business intelligence system: full range of
analysis, support for any number of users, support for any amount of data, iron-clad security, world-
class reliability, easy administration and maintenance, and high performance.

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 5/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

27) How long does it take to deploy MicroStrategy Intelligence Server?

 MicroStrategy Intelligence Server installs in minutes and automatically presents a configuration wizard
to connect to the database. Within an hour, the installation and setup can be completed.
28) Can Intelligence Server integrate with my existing data structure?
Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server easily integrates with your existing data structure with its
support for the major types of schemas like Star, Snowflake, Hybrid, Denormalized, Normalized and
Aggregated Schema. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server also integrates with SAP® BW InfoCubes and
QueryCubes.
29) How does Intelligence Server integrate with the rest of the MicroStrategy platform?
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server is the analytical server that processes all requests from all
MicroStrategy end users. Intelligence Server is the central product that links all MicroStrategy
components to the data warehouse.

30) What data sources does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server support?

 MicroStrategy Intelligence Server can access data in all major databases including Oracle®, IBM DB2®,
Microsoft® SQL Server, Microsoft Access®, Microsoft Excel®, Teradata®, Sybase®, Red Brick®,
Informix®, HP NeoView, HP NonStop SQL/MP, Netezza®, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Greenplum, Kognito,
Vertica, Aster nCluster, text files, and other ANSI-92 compatible relational databases. It can also access
multidimensional data sources such as SAP BW, Hyperion Essbase, and Microsoft Analysis Services.
Additionally, Intelligence Server can access data from EII sources including Composite, Oracle
Transparent Gateways, IBM WebSphere Information Integrator, and MetaMatrix.

31) To save time, can many reports be run at the same time and at the user level?
 Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server can execute multiple reports simultaneously. When report
results are ready they are saved in a personal History folder.
32) Does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server support XML?
Yes. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server uses XML to transfer data. This enables organizations to present
information from Intelligence Server to end users through multiple mediums including the Web, email
and web services.

33) How can I create statements, report books, or dashboard books in MicroStrategy?
 Users have the ability to maintain separate documents and combine them into a single, finalized
document (report book, statement, or dashboard book). The individual documents can be maintained
by different users and they can have the following unique qualities:

·  Page groupings
·  Layout
·  Page Orientation
·  Vertical or horizontal repeating sections
·  Conditional formatting
·  Pagination
·  Datasets
www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 6/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

Enabling users to group together multiple documents into one makes it significantly easier to develop
and maintain individual pieces of the unified document.

34) What OLAP capabilities do I have within a MicroStrategy Report Services document?
 Users have the ability to drill within the document, drill anywhere, or disable drilling. Drilling
capabilities can be applied to a grid or graph, enabling users to perform an investigative analysis
directly on a dashboard, scorecard, or enterprise report. Users can drill out of the dashboard to
investigate across the data warehouse or multiple data sources and generate new information-rich
reports.Using the multi-select feature, business users can dynamically select any group of elements
and create derived element groups on the fly. Elements can be removed or added dynamically and
users can create their own calculations between various groups or individual items.

35) I want only one version of the dashboard to view in Flash and DHTML (AJAX), but I have Flash-
advanced visualizations in the dashboard. How can I design this dashboard for DHTML?
Only one design of the dashboard is required. Flash-advanced visualizations have flash plug-ins that
are maintained within the container of the advanced visualization. Flash-advanced visualizations can
be rendered in both Flash and DHTML, and the same controls are made available to users, enabling a
seamless integration between Flash and DHTML design.

36) How can users design dashboards quickly and without programming experience or training?
 MicroStrategy offers out-of-the box templates that provide a great starting point for dashboard
designers. Each template contains a series of containers, or panel stacks, that enable users to quickly
add components to each panel stack, such as: text boxes, shapes, reports, grids, graphs, panel stacks,
HTML containers, selectors, and widgets. Also, pre-formatted customized templates can be created to
place the design experience in the hands of end-users. These pre-formatted templates can include the
corporate logo and color layout. Users can simply drag, drop, and select dashboard components to
quickly design a dashboard in the matter of minutes.

37) Are there any special requirements needed to move objects across projects?

Yes. In order to perform cross-project operations, the projects involved must originate from the same
source project. In other words, the projects can only be related by the duplication of a single project.
This ensures that the projects have a similar set of schema and application objects, and that the object
ID’s in the two projects are the same. MicroStrategy Object Manager uses the object and version ID’s
across the projects to perform comparisons.MicroStrategy Object Manager prevents the user from
attempting operations across unrelated projects.

38) How does MicroStrategy Object Manager determine if two projects are related?
MicroStrategy Object Manager compares the Schema ID’s of the two projects. Duplicated projects have
different Project ID’s, but their Schema ID’s are the same.
39) What is the Confl ict Resolution Window? 

The Conflict Resolution window provides the user with a means to decide how to handle object conflicts
between the source project and the destination project. In addition, the Conflict Resolution window
displays the object name in the original project, the object name in the destination project and the type
www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 7/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

of conflict. Users may also specify a new name for the object depending on the action chosen
40) How does MicroStrategy Object Manager determine if two objects in different projects are the
same?
To determine if two objects are the same, MicroStrategy Object Manager compares their Object ID’s. If
these ID’s are the same, MicroStrategy Object Manager then compares the Version ID’s. If the Version
ID’s are the same, the Conflict Resolution grid lists the conflict as ‘Exists Identically.’ If the Version ID’s
are different, the Conflict Resolution grid lists the conflict as ‘Exists Differently.’
41) How can the user determine the Object ID of an object?
To view the Object ID of an object, right-mouse click on the object and select ‘Properties.’ The Object ID
and Version ID are listed on the ‘General’ tab.
42) Why does MicroStrategy Object Manager search for object dependencies? 
MicroStrategy Object Manager makes a list of all object dependencies before copying an object to
prevent metadata inconsistency. The time required for dependency checking varies based on a
customer’s metadata size and schema complexity. For large metadata and complex schemas, gathering
all the dependencies may take a long time.
43) Can schema objects be copied across projects with MicroStrategy Object Manager?

Yes, schema objects can be copied across projects using MicroStrategy Object Manager. MicroStrategy
Object Manager moves objects seamlessly between similar projects such as from a development
project version to a production project version where the warehouses are the same in terms of views,
prefixes, and warehouse structure. However, subtle changes in the warehouse that relate to prefixes,
views, or table structure cannot be tracked by MicroStrategy Object Manager. For situations where the
projects’ warehouse structures or setups are dissimilar, users may be required to make further edits of
the objects to ensure full integration into the destination project. These edits may include hierarchical
relationship changes or modifications to the prefixes.
44) How does MicroStrategy Object Manager integrate with the MicroStrategy Product Suite security
model? 

Security in MicroStrategy Object Manager is based on the MicroStrategy 7.x Product Suite security
model. All activities that can be performed in MicroStrategy Object Manager are governed by privileges
and access control lists. For example, if a user is not allowed to access a certain folder in MicroStrategy
Agent, they will not be able to access the folder in MicroStrategy Object Manager.
45) Is it possible to use MicroStrategy Object Manager while other users are making changes in
MicroStrategy Agent?
Using MicroStrategy Object Manager to copy/move objects around is not recommended while other
user sessions are making changes using MicroStrategy Agent, as it could lead to metadata
inconsistency. Project and schema locking prevent multiple users sessions from manipulating the
schema at the same time. This prevents metadata inconsistency from occurring.
46) What are the tracing options available in MicroStrategy Object Manager?

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 8/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

Tracing is available under the Tools/Diagnostics menu. These tracing options apply to every
MicroStrategy product installed on the machine.To see the SQL that has been executed against the
metadata, go to the Advanced tab and turn on ‘SQL Tracing’ under the DSS MDServer key.Function level
tracing can be accomplished by going to the Advanced tab and turning on ‘Function Level Tracing’
under the DSS ObjectManager key.
47) Where are dependent objects copied if they do not already exist in the destination project?

If the location exists in the destination project, the dependent object is copied to that location. If the
location does not exist in the destination project, a new folder entitled ‘Dependencies’ is created and
the object is copied to that folder.
48) What happens if the owner of an object does not exist in the destination project?

If the owner of the source object does not exist in the destination project, the user login for the
destination project takes ownership of the object when it is copied or replaced.
49) Where can users fi nd more information on MicroStrategy Object Manager? 
Further information can be found in the release notes, as well as in MicroStrategy Object Manager’s
online help.
50) Does MicroStrategy Web support clustering via Cisco Local Router or any other third-party
clustering software?
MicroStrategy Web relies on third-party web-clustering software to provide clustering functionality.
MicroStrategy Web is designed to be stateless so that each individual MicroStrategy Web node can
function without the knowledge of the existence of other nodes. Therefore, any third-party software
used to cluster web servers can be used.
51) What information is shared by the application across MicroStrategy Web nodes?
MicroStrategy Web is designed to be as stateless as possible. Therefore, no information is shared by
the MicroStrategy Web application across cluster nodes. All state information for running jobs is
pushed to the client browser.When a report is submitted by a MicroStrategy Web user, the user will
receive a wait page in the client browser. This wait page will poll the MicroStrategy Web Server
periodically for the status of the report. This polling is performed as new http requests. This http
request will contain all state information, including encrypted login information and MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server connection information.

52) Is MicroStrategy Web “cluster-aware”?

The MicroStrategy Web application is designed so that each MicroStrategy Web cluster node does not
need to know that it is a member of a cluster. MicroStrategy Web is designed to be stateless, so that
each client http request can be processed individually without having to persist information within the
MicroStrategy Web application. Therefore, third-party Web-server clustering software can be used to
cluster together multiple web servers running MicroStrategy Web.

53) Should MicroStrategy Web be specifi cally confi gured to access a MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server cluster?
No. When the administrator configures MicroStrategy Web to access a particular MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server, the MicroStrategy Web application will automatically detect that the MicroStrategy

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 9/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

Intelligence Server is a member of a cluster. Once this detection is made, MicroStrategy Web will
automatically add all the other members of the same cluster into the pool of available MicroStrategy
Intelligence Servers.
54) What information is shared by the application across MicroStrategy Intelligence Server nodes?
Report caches are shared in a cluster and Object caches on each MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
node are synchronized.

55) Is a copy of each report cache retained in each MicroStrategy Intelligence Server node?

No. Each MicroStrategy Intelligence Server retains a lookup table with information about the existence
and location of report caches. When a cluster node creates a report cache, information about the
location of the new cache is shared with the other cluster nodes. Each cluster node then updates its
own lookup table with the location of the new cache.

56) If a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server node crashes, will report caches be lost?
Although report caches will not be lost, access to report caches may be affected, depending on the way
in which the report cache is configured.If a separate file server is used as a common report cache
repository for all MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster nodes, then the loss of a cluster node will not
affect access to the report cache by other nodes.If the cluster is configured such that each node locally
hosts the report cache created by that node, then those report caches residing in the lost node will
naturally be inaccessible. If any report cached in that lost node is requested, then another node within
the cluster will re-run and re-cache the report. When the cluster node is recovered and rejoined into
the cluster, all report caches in that cluster node will be made available again to the rest of the cluster.
57) If a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server node is removed from a cluster manually, will report
caches be lost?
If an administrator removes a cluster node from a cluster, then all report caches that had been created
by that cluster node will be inaccessible by the rest of the cluster, whether or not a separate file server
is used as a common report cache. This behavior is by design.

58) How does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server 7.0 clustering enable cache sharing?
Each node in a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server 7.0 cluster maintains indices of the caches available
on the different nodes. When a report is submitted, these indices will be searched and once an existing
cache is found (in any nodes), the cached results will be retrieved directly from cache locations in
either the local or remote machine.

59) What methods can be used to guarantee availability of the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
report cache?
To prevent the loss of a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster node from affecting report cache
availability, the cluster can be configured such that a separate file server is used as a common report
cache repository. In order to maintain cache availability, this separate file server can be configured for
failover with third-party clustering software.

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 10/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

60) If a report cache is created by a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster node, will that report
cache be seen in the Cache Monitor of another cluster node?
No. Although the new report cache will be available for use by other cluster nodes, the cache will not
appear in the Cache Monitor of other cluster nodes. In order to see all report caches within a cluster,
the administrator will need to create a separate data source within Desktop for each cluster node.
Then, the report caches within each node can be administered separately, using the same instance of
the MicroStrategy Desktop application.

61) If objects are created, modifi ed or deleted, will the change be refl ected across all MicroStrategy
Intelligence Server cluster nodes?
Yes. Object caches are synchronized across all cluster nodes. If any change affecting the Metadata is
made by one cluster node, then the cluster node broadcasts the change to the other cluster nodes. The
other cluster nodes will then update their local object caches.
NOTE: Client-side object caches will not be automatically be refreshed. In MicroStrategy Desktop, for
example, a user may have to explicitly click on ‘Refresh’ to see an object change be reflected in the
client application.

62) Should all MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster nodes be confi gured identically?
Technically, MicroStrategy Intelligence Servers in a cluster do not have to be configured identically. The
only technical requirements are that all MicroStrategy Intelligence Servers point to the same metadata
and that all MicroStrategy Intelligence Servers have the same projects registered and in the same state
(i.e., if Node A has Project A in a ‘Loaded’ state, then Node B must also have Project A in a ‘Loaded’
state.).However, in order to ease administration and to reduce the risk of unbalanced load across
cluster nodes, it is recommended that all nodes use the same MicroStrategy Intelligence Server
definition and that each machine shows identical characteristics (i.e., equal RAM, hard disk space,
CPU).

63) Is it possible for different nodes of a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster to run against
different metadata repositories?
No, all the nodes in the same cluster must run against the same metadata.
64) Is it possible for different nodes of a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster to run with
different confi guration settings under the same metadata repository?

Yes this is possible, using caution because users can configure different nodes at different settings. For
example, differences in memory allocation for the cache, time out settings, etc can result in uneven
performance across cluster nodes.
65) What communication protocol does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server use for intracluster
communication?
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server 7.0 and MicroStrategy Intelligence Server 7.0 SP1 use TCP/IP when
communicating between clusters. MicroStrategy Intelligence Server 7.1 will provide the option of using
TCP/IP or UDP/IP (Universal Datagram Protocol). In 7.2, UDP support was removed as packet loss affects
cluster synchronization.

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 11/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

66) If a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster node is rebooted, will the node rejoin the cluster
automatically?
Whenever a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server cluster node is stopped in any way besides explicitly
shutting down the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server service, the node will automatically rejoin the
cluster when the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server service is restarted. So, if the node crashes, then the
node will rejoin the cluster automatically upon startup.

67) Does MicroStrategy Intelligence Server support clustering via Microsoft Cluster Server or any
other third-party clustering software?
Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) can be used for failover of MicroStrategy Intelligence Server. However,
MSCS and other third-party clustering software will not provide the load-balancing and some of the
failover capabilities of MicroStrategy Intelligence Server’s native clustering solution.

68) Is it possible to run multiple instances of MicroStrategy Intelligence Server on the same
Microsoft Windows NT machine?
MicroStrategy 7.0 does not support running multiple instances of MicroStrategy Intelligence Server on
the same Microsoft Windows NT machine. This is because MicroStrategy Intelligence Server can
support running multiple projects with different prioritization and configuration settings on one server.
This functionality was not available in MicroStrategy DSS Server 5.x and thus, required running
multiple instances of MicroStrategy Intelligence Server to accomplish the same functionality.
69) What is the maximum number of nodes that can be supported in a MicroStrategy Intelligence
Server 7.0 cluster?
There is no technical hard limit on the maximum number of cluster nodes that can be supported by
MicroStrategy Intelligence Server 7.0. However, when the number of nodes increases, there is
increasing overhead put on the system by the clustering software. So, there will be practical limits
related to the hardware configuration of the users’ system.

70) What is metadata?

Metadata is repository which stores microstrategy objects definitions and information about the data
warehouse structure and content.Metadata is used by the intelligence server to evaluate the most
efficient data retrieval  scenario to guarantee optimal query performance.Explain 2-tier and 3-tier
Architecture in MSTR.
71) What is ScanMD and MD Doctor?
Scan MD is the tool to recover from logical inconsistencies where MD Doctor fixes physical errors, When
working with Microstrategy there is a chance for the metadata to become corrupt.  There are 2 types of
errors; Physical or Logical.When working with Microstrategy there is a chance for the metadata to
become corrupt.  There are 2 types of errors; Physical or Logical.ScanMD is used to recover from Logical
discrepancies, where as MD Doctor is used for Physical discrepancies. Why these discrepancies
creep????? Like any software application, there are bugs in MicroStrategy, dandling code (a situation
never programmed), etc. such a thing is the main reason behind discrepancies.
Logical discrepancies: Using desktop you can create/delete several objects. Sometime deletion of the
objects doesn’t get reflected in metadata and they get deleted in metadata but still available in front-

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 12/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

end. Now such a mis-match in case of schema objects is simply killing, because it won’t let you update
schema at all. . Using ScanMD is not an JImagine not having ability to update schema easy task.
ScanMD shows 95% for false errors as discrepancies. Engine team of MicroStrategy, Inc. needs to
update the tool. For one error, you may have to go through 100+ errors. You can verify the error easily
by having project opened side by side. NEVER EVER FIX A FALSE ERROR.
Physical discrepancies: There are not just 10 DSS tables that make metadata, there are several more
database objects that are created for metadata; e.g., triggers, views. If any of these objects are messed
up, you have a physical discrepancy in your project. 
What is clustering and types of clustering?
cluster is a group of two or more I-servers connected to each other in such a way that they behave like
a single I-server.Each machine in the cluster is called a node.Each machine in the cluster runs the
same service as other machines in the cluster hence any machine can stand the failure of other
machine and take over the tasks of the failed machine.

 Cognos TM1 interview questions (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-cognos-tm1-interview-questions-

and-answers-by-experts/)

Business analyst interview questions  (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-business-analyst-interview-

questions-and-answers-by-experts/)

Search… 

LATEST POSTS

Protected: Cognos TM1 Full Course (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/cognos-tm1-full-course/)

Protected: Python Online training Full Course (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/python-online-
training-videos/)
SAP HR self paced online training videos (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/sap-hr-self-paced-
online-training-videos/)
RPA self paced online training videos (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/rpa-self-paced-online-
training-videos/)
Qliksense self paced online training videos (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/qliksense-self-paced-
online-training-videos/)
Oracle PL SQL self paced online training videos (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/oracle-pl-sql-self-
paced-online-training-videos/)

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 13/14
6/9/23, 1:22 PM Top most important Microstrategy interview questions and answers by Experts

Pega self paced online training videos (http://www.rvhtechguru.com/pega-self-paced-online-

training-videos/)

For all Online trainings Visit: www.rvhtech.com (http://rvhtech.com/)

© 2016 www.rvhtechguru.com. All Rights Reserved

www.rvhtechguru.com/top-most-important-microstrategy-interview-questions-and-answers-by-experts/ 14/14