Using Multisource Universes in SAP BI Platform 4.0By Michael Mullin January 30, 2013 SAP BusinessObjects Comments OffOne of the most eagerly anticipated enhancements to Universes in the SAP BI Platform 4.0 is the ability to use multiple data sources in a single Universe. The Information Design Tool allows this; however the Universe Design Tool does not. This means a multisource Universe must be a UNX Universe.There are also some rules for creating a Universe that has multiple data sources. The primary rule is the Universe must be declared as multisource when it is first created. A single source Universe cannot be converted to a multisource Universe. Many find this restriction puzzling. The reason is that under the covers the single source and multisource Universes are different beasts.A single source Universe is processed by the Web Intelligence Processing Server. This is the standard process. However, a multisource Universe is primarily processed by an Adaptive Job Server which is running the Data Federation Service. Data federation is not new to the BI platform, only its use by Universes is new.Unfortunately, there is no tool for converting a single source Universe to a multisource Universe or vice versa. You must rebuild the Universe.Another rule for using multisource Universes is the data sources must both be relational data sources. However these relational data sources do not have to be the same type of relational database management system (RDBMS). For instance, one could be Oracle and the other could be Microsoft SQL Server.You cannot have two connections to OLAP sources or one connection to OLAP server and one to a RDBMS. However, if you do wish to connect to an OLAP data source, you do declare the Universe as multisource, even though you can only connect to one OLAP data source. The same is true if you wish to build a Universe on an SAP NetWeaver BW or SAP SAS connection.The last rule is that the connection must be a secure connection. This means the connection must be published to the BI platform.At the next meeting of MOBOUG on February 8, 2013 there will be a more detailed discussion of multisource Universes and how to create them. Despite the various rules, the actual creation of a multisource Universe is relatively straightforward. The data federation part takes place behind the scenes.