Microsoft’s Azure Synapse Analytics is a cloud-based platform offering big data analytics, data visualization, data warehousing and more, providing a unified and enriched platform for intelligence over all your important data. One of its key strengths is the ability to integrate well with other Microsoft products like Power BI to trigger synergy in data solutions.
Power BI, on the other hand, is an interactive data visualization tool that offers insightful business intelligence over broad spectrums of data. It can connect to numerous data sources, simplify data prep, and enhance ad-hoc analysis. Power BI, when interoperated with Azure Synapse Analytics, yields a powerful enterprise-scale analytics solution.
Let’s explore how to integrate an existing Power BI workspace with Azure Synapse Analytics.
Working with Power BI and Azure Synapse Analytics
Before beginning the integration process, you should have a pre-existing Power BI workspace to input into Azure Synapse Analytics. This workspace may contain crucial data sets, reports, metrics, dashboards or other enterprise data assets.
Step 1: Creation of External Data Source
The first step towards integrating Power BI with Azure Synapse Analytics entails the creation of an external data source. This can be established by using the CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE T-SQL command in Azure Synapse.
Here’s an example:
CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE MyDataSource
WITH (
LOCATION = ‘powerbi://api.powerbi.com/v1.0/myorg/myworkspace’,
CREDENTIAL = MyCred
)
In this case, ‘MyDataSource’ pertains to the external data source name. MyCred represents a database scoped credential resource, which stores essential connection details to your Power BI workspace.
Step 2: Creation of External Table
Next, you have to set up an external table over your external data source by using the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE T-SQL command.
Below is a sample T-SQL statement for the said step:
CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE MyTable
(
[MyColumn1] [NVARCHAR](500) NOT NULL,
[MyColumn2] INT NOT NULL,
…
)
WITH (
DATA_SOURCE = MyDataSource,
SCHEMA_NAME = ‘dbo’,
OBJECT_NAME = ‘MyPowerBITable’
)
Here, MyTable refers to the external table. MyDataSource pertains to the data source from the previous step. ‘MyPowerBITable’ signifies the table from your Power BI dataset.
Step 3: Query Execution
Once the external table is set up, you may execute a select query to get a view of the data. A basic SELECT statement to execute the query would look something like this:
SELECT * FROM MyTable
A key aspect to remember during the integration is ensuring the security of data. Row-level security (RLS) in Power BI, along with firewall rules in Azure Synapse Analytics, can help you control access to your data.
In Conclusion
Azure Synapse Analytics, in conjunction with Power BI, can create highly scalable and reliable data solutions. By following the steps mentioned above, you can successfully integrate a Pre-existing Power BI workspace into your Azure Synapse Analytics.
Remember, the DP-500 Designing and Implementing Enterprise-Scale Analytics Solutions Using Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Power BI exam evaluates your ability to accomplish technical tasks including effective integration of Power BI with Azure Synapse. A thorough understanding and practice of this guide will help get you well on the way for the successful completion of DP-500.
Practice Test
True or False: It is possible to integrate an existing Power BI workspace into Azure Synapse Analytics.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Azure Synapse Analytics can integrate with Power BI directly, enabling you to create or connect to an existing workspace.
Which one of the following is not a feature of integrating Power BI workspace with Azure Synapse Analytics?
- A. Use DirectQuery
- B. View the workspace in Power BI
- C. Transform data in Power BI
- D. Manage Power BI dataset permissions in Synapse
Answer: D. Manage Power BI dataset permissions in Synapse
Explanation: While integrating Power BI with Azure Synapse Analytics allows direct querying, data viewing, and transformation capabilities, managing dataset permissions must be done in Power BI itself.
In integrating Power BI into Azure Synapse, what kind of analytics does Power BI provide?
- A. Predictive analytics
- B. Prescriptive analytics
- C. Diagnostic analytics
- D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above
Explanation: Power BI provides predictive (future), prescriptive (recommendations), and diagnostic (past) analytics to study patterns and trends.
You cannot host Power BI datasets in Azure Synapse Analytics.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: While Azure Synapse can analyze Power BI data, it cannot host Power BI datasets directly.
What kind of relationship does integrating Power BI with Azure Synapse Analytics establish?
- A. One-way relationship
- B. Many-to-many relationship
- C. Bi-directional relationship
- D. No relationship
Answer: C. Bi-directional relationship
Explanation: The integration allows for a bi-directional relationship, where Power BI can send data to Synapse for analysis, and Synapse can return the analyzed data to Power BI for visualization.
Azure Synapse Analytics only supports static reports from Power BI.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Synapse Analytics supports both static and dynamic reports from Power BI, allowing for real-time data analysis.
Integrating Power BI with Azure Synapse Analytics is a pay-as-you-go service.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: The integration of Power BI and Azure Synapse Analytics is part of the Azure cloud services which operates on a pay-as-you-go basis.
All data in Power BI should be migrated to Azure Synapse Analytics when integrating the two.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: You can select which datasets to be queried and analyzed in Synapse. Full migration is not necessary.
You can automate data refresh from Azure Synapse Analytics to Power BI.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Azure Synapse Analytics supports automated data refresh capabilities to Power BI, ensuring your reports and dashboards stay up to date.
You need a Power BI Pro license to integrate with Azure Synapse Analytics.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Power BI Pro license is required for publishing reports and dashboards, hence it’s necessary for integration with Azure Synapse Analytics.
Interview Questions
What is Azure Synapse Analytics?
Azure Synapse Analytics is an integrated analytics service that accelerates time to insight across data warehouses and big data systems. It provides a unified experience to ingest, prep, manage, and serve data for immediate business intelligence and machine learning needs.
What is the initial step to integrate an existing Power BI workspace into Azure Synapse Analytics?
The initial step is to create an Azure Synapse Workspace through the Azure portal.
What benefits are there in integrating Power BI Workspace into Azure Synapse Workspace?
Integrating Power BI Workspace into Azure Synapse Workspace provides a unified and seamless experience for data ingestion, data exploration, data preparation, data management, and data visualization.
Can you use Azure Active Directory to secure your Power BI reports in Azure Synapse Workspace?
Yes, you can use Azure Active Directory to implement row-level security on your Power BI reports within Azure Synapse Workspace.
How would you link your Power BI workspace to your Synapse Workspace?
This can be done via the Synapse Studio. You navigate to the ‘Manage’ hub, under ‘Linked services’ choose ‘Power BI’, then choose ‘+New’ to link your Power BI workspace.
What tools within Azure Synapse Analytics can be used for data visualization?
Data visualization within Azure Synapse Analytics can be performed using Power BI integration, which allows creating and managing Power BI reports.
How can you access Power BI datasets in Azure Synapse Analytics?
You can access Power BI datasets in Azure Synapse Analytics by linking your Power BI workspace with Azure Synapse. After that, you can access dataflows and datasets from the Data hub of the Synapse Studio.
Can you perform real-time analytics using Azure Synapse Analytics and Power BI?
Yes, you can perform real-time analytics by pushing data into Power BI using the Azure Stream Analytics job’s Power BI output feature and analyzing it in real-time.
Is it possible to refresh Power BI datasets from Azure Synapse Analytics?
Yes, you can refresh your Power BI datasets from Azure Synapse Analytics using the scheduled refresh or by refreshing manually.
Can you integrate Power BI with Azure Synapse Analytics without linking?
No, to facilitate integration, the Power BI workspace needs to be linked with Azure Synapse Workspace.
How does Azure Synapse Analytics enhance Power BI capabilities?
Azure Synapse Analytics can enhance Power BI capabilities by providing advanced analytics options, seamless integration, access to big data, and real-time analysis with Azure Streaming Analytics integration.
Can you use Azure Machine Learning models in your Power BI reports within Azure Synapse Analytics?
Yes, you can operationalize your Azure Machine Learning models and use them in your Power BI reports within Azure Synapse Analytics.
Can you use DirectQuery over Azure Synapse Analytics in Power BI?
Yes, you can use DirectQuery to maintain a live connection to the Azure Synapse Analytics data source in Power BI.
Which permissions are needed to access the Power BI workspace from Azure Synapse Analytics?
You need Power BI Pro license and you should be a member of the Power BI workspace to access it from Azure Synapse Analytics.
In Azure Synapse Workspace, where can you see the list of linked Power BI workspaces?
You can see the list of linked Power BI workspaces in the ‘Manage’ tab under ‘Linked services’.
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