What is a Data Gateway

A data gateway is software that acts as a bridge between a remote data source and the Power BI web application. It is a standalone (and optional) piece of software which needs to be installed onto a machine with internet access. This can be a laptop or a VM.

The gateway hosts and executes the connectors just like the Power BI Desktop. However, credentials for the connector are provided through the Power BI Service when setting up a connection.

For more details on why you would need a bridge for data when using Power BI, see Data Gateways & Power BI.

Next Steps

For details on how the data gateway works, see How Does Data Gateway Work.