SQL Server 2k8 Management Data Warehouse

One of the new features in SQL Server 2k8 is the Management Data Warehouse. This feature is made up of a data collector, storage, and execution that collects data about the particular databases within the server into a reporting warehouse. This data is stored in the msdb and also in management data warehouse databases that are created when the Data Collection is configured. The warehouse uses various pieces of SQL Server such as SSIS and other components also. One of these components is the dcexec.exe file that is responsible for loading and executing SSIS packages that are part of this collection set. Keep in mind, that there is an API for this warehouse also for extension of the functionality. The following are the steps for setting up a basic management data warehouse.