Report displaying Azure SQL Database data with real-time updates

Hi yyjp​,

One important update here: I would not build a new solution around Push/Streaming datasets.

Microsoft currently states that Power BI real-time streaming is scheduled for deprecation, so I would treat that as a legacy direction rather than the preferred architecture for a new implementation.

For a normal Power BI report, DirectQuery + Automatic Page Refresh is still the supported approach.

The key detail is the workspace type.

Microsoft’s Automatic Page Refresh documentation currently documents:

Power BI Desktop
-> minimum fixed interval: 1 second

Shared/Pro workspace
-> minimum fixed interval: 30 minutes

Dedicated capacity, including Fabric F capacity
-> minimum fixed interval can be 1 second, subject to the capacity administrator setting

So being on F4 does not by itself prevent a 1-second refresh interval.

I would check the capacity settings first, because the admin can configure the minimum Automatic Page Refresh interval for the capacity.

The bigger concern on F4 is capacity and source load.

With fixed-interval refresh, every visual on the open page sends DirectQuery queries repeatedly.

For example:

8 visuals
x 5 users
x 1-second refresh

can create a substantial continuous query workload against both the Fabric capacity and Azure SQL.

Microsoft also notes that if the visual queries take longer than the configured interval, Power BI waits for them to finish before sending the next refresh, so setting 1 second does not guarantee that the page will actually update every second.

If your goal is true change-driven ingestion rather than polling Azure SQL every second, I would also look at Azure SQL Database CDC through Fabric Eventstream.

That gives you a pattern such as:

Azure SQL CDC
-> Eventstream
-> Eventhouse / Real-Time Intelligence
-> Power BI

so Fabric consumes database changes as events rather than repeatedly querying the operational database for the full visual workload.

For Power BI Report Server, I would be cautious about assuming it supports the same 1-second Automatic Page Refresh behavior as the Power BI service. Microsoft documents DirectQuery support in Report Server, but I could not find current documentation confirming an equivalent 1-second browser refresh feature there.

I would also avoid using a browser refresh extension as the production solution. It refreshes the browser/report page, but it does not reduce the underlying query cost or give you a proper real-time ingestion architecture.

So for your case I would choose between:

DirectQuery + Automatic Page Refresh on F4
-> simplest option
-> monitor F4 capacity and Azure SQL load carefully

or

Azure SQL CDC -> Eventstream / Eventhouse -> Power BI
-> better fit when you genuinely need event-driven near-real-time analytics and want to reduce repeated polling of Azure SQL

AI-assisted drafting: AI was used to help structure and phrase this response. I reviewed and validated the technical content before posting.