Essbase can create a bitmap, whose size is controlled by the size of the calculator cache, to record and track data blocks during a calculation. Determining which blocks exist using the bitmap is faster than accessing the disk to obtain the information, particularly if calculating a database for the first time or calculating a database when the data is sparse.
Essbase uses the calculator cache bitmap if the database has at least two sparse dimensions and either of these conditions is also met:
The best size for the calculator cache depends on the number and density of the sparse dimensions in your outline. Use the following topics to understand the calculator cache bitmap, size the calculator cache, and change the size of the calculator cache (and therefore the largest possible size for the bitmap), if required: