Power BI capacity refers to the resources needed by Power BI to perform operations such as loading data, calculating models and visualizing data. This includes data capacity – the volume of data that can be processed, and computational capacity – the processing power required to transform the data and build visuals.

Power BI provides two capacity types: shared and dedicated. Shared capacity is the default capacity type for Power BI and its resources are shared between all Power BI users. On the other hand, Power BI Premium offers dedicated capacity where resources are solely for your organization’s use.

Capacity Type Advantages Disadvantages
Shared Lower costs, suitable for smaller data volumes Resources shared with other users, lower performance
Dedicated Exclusive resources, higher performance, more features Higher costs, suitable for larger data volumes

Table of Contents

Configuring Power BI Capacity

To configure dedicated capacity in Power BI, you need to purchase Power BI Premium. After purchasing, you can manage it in the Power BI admin portal. The capacity settings area allows you to change the capacity’s name, assign admins, and view the current usage of the capacity.

Microsoft allows you to manage your dedicated capacities right from the Power BI admin portal. You can control who can use the capacity and what workspaces can take advantage of it.

For instance, to assign a workspace to the capacity, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings -> Admin portal.
  2. Select Capacity settings.
  3. Choose the dedicated capacity you need to assign a workspace to.
  4. In the Workspaces tab, add the desired workspace.

Similarly, to assign users to the capacity:

  1. Follow steps 1 to 3 above.
  2. In the Users tab, add the users who can use the capacity.

Managing Power BI Capacity

Managing Power BI capacity involves keeping tabs on resource consumption, adjusting the capacity as needed and ensuring optimal performance.

Power BI provides Admins with a Capacity Metrics app that gives insights about the usage of the capacity. You can monitor memory usage, refresh configurations and other resource consumption metrics.

For instance, to check capacity metrics:

  1. Go to the Power BI Admin portal.
  2. Select ‘Capacity Settings’.
  3. Click on the ‘Metrics’ app option.

This opens the Capacity Metrics report, where you can see how the memory is being used, what is consuming most of the resources, and other valuable information. This information is crucial in managing capacity and making data-driven decisions about scaling up or down.

Conclusion

Mastering how to configure and manage Power BI capacity is essential for anyone preparing for the DP-500 exam. By making use of dedicated capacities, you can ensure better performance and control over your analytic workloads. And by efficiently managing these capacities, you can prevent resource wastage, maintain optimal performance, and better strategize your resource scaling plans.

Remember, the right capacity choice depends on your specific needs and requirements, so it’s critical to take a well-informed, data-driven decision. Regularly monitoring your capacity metrics and adjusting the capacity as needed is the key to managing Power BI capacity optimally.

Practice Test

True or False: Power BI premium capacity can be shared with free user.

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Explanation: Power BI Premium provides the flexibility to use Power BI broadly across an organization, without requiring per-user licenses for viewers.

What is the primary purpose of Power BI capacity settings?

  • A) To limit the number of reports
  • B) To manage storage and computational resources
  • C) To design the report layout
  • D) To handle authentication and security

Answer: B) To manage storage and computational resources

Explanation: Power BI capacity settings primarily manage storage and computational resources to ensure high performance and capacity utilization.

Within the Power BI service, where can you see the capacity settings and configurations?

  • A) Report view
  • B) Dashboard view
  • C) Admin portal
  • D) Sharing settings

Answer: C) Admin portal

Explanation: The capacity settings and configurations can be found in the Power BI service’s admin portal.

Which of the following can be managed in Power BI capacity settings?

  • A) Report refresh frequency
  • B) Memory usage
  • C) Dataflow usage
  • D) All of the above

Answer: D) All of the above

Explanation: In Power BI capacity settings you can manage report refresh frequency, memory usage and Dataflow usage to ensure optimal performance.

True or False: It is necessary to have a Power BI Pro license to manage Power BI capacities.

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Explanation: To manage Power BI capacities, an admin should have Power BI Pro license.

What is the role of Power BI capacity admin?

  • A) Creating reports
  • B) Designing dashboards
  • C) Managing capacity and performance
  • D) Handling user queries

Answer: C) Managing capacity and performance

Explanation: The Power BI capacity admin is responsible for handling and managing the capacities, and ensuring the performance of reports and dashboards.

The Power BI Premium capacity includes dedicated capacity to:

  • A) Create more number of visuals in a report
  • B) Get high data freshness and higher read/write workloads
  • C) Get access to Power BI reports
  • D) None of the above

Answer: B) Get high data freshness and higher read/write workloads

Explanation: Power BI Premium is designed to meet more demanding needs for data freshness, and higher read/write workloads.

True or False: Power BI Pro and Premium capacities cannot be mixed and matched within an organization.

  • True
  • False

Answer: False

Explanation: Power BI Pro and Premium can be used together. Pro is required for publishing reports, while Premium provides more capacity and larger data volumes.

Which of these is not a parameter that can be set in Power BI capacity settings?

  • A) Maximum refresh per day
  • B) Maximum storage size
  • C) Available memory
  • D) End user’s location

Answer: D) End user’s location

Explanation: User’s location is not a parameter that can be set in Power BI capacity settings. It typically governs storage size, refresh rates, and memory allocation.

True or False: It is possible to pause and resume Power BI capacities.

  • True
  • False

Answer: True

Explanation: You can indeed pause and resume Power BI capacities to manage costs and usage effectively. Its especially useful in development scenarios where capacity is not required 24/

Interview Questions

What are the capacity configurations that are available in Power BI?

Power BI offers two capacity configurations: shared and Premium. The shared capacity is used in the Power BI service and is allocated in a shared manner among all users. Premium capacity, on the other hand, is dedicated to your organization, allowing you to have more control and flexibility over data refresh rates, connectivity, and other features.

How are resources allocated in Power BI Premium capacity?

In a Power BI Premium capacity, resources are not pre-allocated to specific datasets or dataflows. Instead, workloads in the capacity consume resources as needed. You can monitor and manage how these resources are used using the Power BI Premium Capacity Metrics app.

What happens when Power BI capacity limits are reached?

When Power BI capacity limits are reached, it could lead to reduced performance and long load times. If the capacity limit is exceeded for a prolonged period, some automated processes like data refreshes and calculated column creations might fail.

What is the Power BI Embedded?

Power BI Embedded is a Microsoft Azure service that allows developers to embed Power BI reports, dashboards, or tiles into an application. This capacity-based, hourly billed service provides a more flexible way of presenting data within applications.

What is the purpose of the Power BI Capacity settings in the Admin Portal?

The Capacity settings in the Admin Portal give Power BI admin the control to manage the capacities of their Power BI environment. This includes the ability to view and manage both Power BI Premium and Power BI Embedded capacities.

How can you monitor the health of a Power BI capacity?

You can monitor the health of a Power BI capacity by regularly checking the capacity metrics in the Power BI service. The metrics give information about CPU utilization, Memory consumption, Refresh wait times, and other factors that could impact capacity performance.

What is automatic page refresh in Power BI?

Automatic page refresh (APR) in Power BI is a feature that allows for more frequent data updates in your report visuals. This feature, available only in Power BI Premium, enables near real-time data updates in report visuals.

How is Power BI workload isolation achieved?

Workload isolation in Power BI is achieved using Workload settings in the Admin Portal. It allows separate tunable settings for different types of workloads such as dataflows, paging, AI, and DirectQuery/Connectivity.

What are some ways to optimize Power BI capacity performance?

You can optimize Power BI capacity performance by reducing the number of active datasets, ensuring refreshes are scheduled during off-peak times, reducing the number of visuals on a report, and by scheduling automatic page refreshes judiciously.

Can you migrate reports from one workspace to another in Power BI?

Yes, you can migrate report, dataset, and dashboards from one workspace to another in Power BI. It allows you to move content to a workspace that resides in a premium capacity when required.

What is the Direct Query in Power BI?

Direct Query is a connectivity mode in Power BI where no data is imported or copied to Power BI, instead queries are sent directly to the source data. It is ideal for large datasets which cannot be imported into Power BI due to their size.

How many refreshes can you schedule per day with Power BI premium?

With Power BI Premium, you can schedule up to 48 refreshes per day. This is more than double the number of refreshes you can schedule with the standard Power BI Pro license which allows for up to 8 refreshes per day.

Can you have more than one Power BI Premium capacity in an organisation?

Yes, an organisation can have multiple Power BI Premium capacities. This can be helpful when segregating datasets and workloads for different departments or teams within the organisation.

How can you limit access to a Power BI Premium capacity?

You can limit access to a Power BI premium capacity by assigning appropriate roles and setting permissions for users in a workspace that’s assigned to a premium capacity. You can also use the ‘Allow access to the capacity’ option in the Capacity settings to restrict access to certain users or security groups.

Can you use paginated reports with Power BI Pro?

No, paginated reports are only supported with Power BI Premium or Power BI embedded capacities. They are not supported in the Power BI Pro license.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *