Data Gateways & Power BI

How They Work

Typically, a Power BI report is created using Power BI Desktop. The Power BI Desktop application has a number of files in its file system called connectors. Below are some important things to note about connectors and how they are used with Power BI:

• Connector Defined: Each connector is a small program that, when given the correct parameters, connects to a system and retrieves data.
• Connectors in Reports: When reports are published to the Power BI web application, the type of connector is included with the report.
• Data Compatibility: The data is provided in a format that Power BI can understand.

Introduced Issue

As you can imagine, this gap creates a need to extend that connection. Without this, the following issues arise:

• Remote Data Refreshes: Not possible.
• Scheduled Data Refreshes: Not possible.

Solution

To bridge this gap, you can use Data Gateways!

Data Gateways is the service that Power BI can use to allow for secure remote data refreshes and scheduling.

Next Steps

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