Forum Discussion
Centralize table refresh in Semantic Model Build
Hi Koritala ,
Explore Composite Models they are the ideal use case for you.in composite model, you can build one central model with common tables which will be used as remote model.then other 4 models can be created using this model as reference plus additional tables.in composite model, rls/ols has to be defined in the remote model only.you can also apply incremental refresh on remote model to have efficient data refresh for 15 years of data.
References:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/desktop-composite-models
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/guidance/composite-model-guidance
Please give kudos or mark it as a solution once confirmed.
Thanks and Regards,
Praful
Hi Nabha-Ahmed,
Thanks for your quick response.
As you suggested I tried to Import all the tables into Master Model. But my challenge is that I have a very few very large tables and not allowed me to import those tables into Master model. Can you plz suggest how to over come this scenario? We have PPU License. In desktop, when I try to import very large tables, it is saying memory issue and can't use Import mode.
Thanks,
Sri.
Thanks for the update.
When working with very large tables in a PPU environment, it’s normal to hit memory limits when trying to use Import mode in a centralized model.
You can still build a Master Model without importing everything.
Here’s the recommended approach to overcome the issue:
1. Import only small/shared tables into the Master Model
Keep your dimensions or any lightweight tables in Import mode — these are usually not a problem for PPU memory.
2. Keep the very large tables in DirectQuery mode
Instead of importing the large fact tables, connect them using DirectQuery.
This avoids memory pressure and still allows the Master Model to act as your central source.
3. Build a composite (hybrid) semantic model
Your Master Model can combine:
Imported small tables
DirectQuery large tables
This is fully supported in PPU and is a common design pattern for big datasets.
4. Let all other semantic models reuse the Master Model
From your downstream models, connect to the Master Model using:
Get Data → Power BI semantic models → DirectQuery
This ensures the large tables refresh only once and are not duplicated across models.
5. If needed, apply incremental refresh on large tables
If a large table must be imported (partially), use incremental refresh to reduce memory usage during refresh.
Hi Nabha-Ahmad,
In Master model If I connect Large tables using Direct Query mode, I think we can't setup incremental refresh for Large tables as it uses Direct Query in Master model.
As you said, in down stream models, we connect to Master model and pull the required tables.
and disable the enable load option for all the tables in child models.Please let me know if my understanding is correct or not?
DirectQuery tables cannot use Incremental Refresh.
This is the same point I mentioned earlier, but I’m happy to restate it:If a table is in DirectQuery, Incremental Refresh isn’t available.
Incremental Refresh works only when the table is in Import or Hybrid mode.
For downstream models, yes — connecting to the Master Model and disabling Enable Load on local tables is the correct approach.Let me know if you need a quick example or diagram; happy to help.
Use composite models in Power BI Desktop
https://learn.microsoft.com/power-bi/transform-model/desktop-composite-models