Datamarts vs Dataflows Differences and advantages

[Chanti]

So far I have been working with dataflows with pro and recently got access to premium capacity where datamarts are available.

Are there any benefits to using datamarts vs dataflows?

With datamarts i am able to use directquery, is it better than import mode?

Does directquery consume more/faster resources on the capacity server?(does it slow down)

and any other advice you could provide.

**there is about 40 mil rows of data

[Greg_Deckler · Accepted solution]

@Chanti It's perhaps not the greatest question. Datamarts leverage dataflows technology essentially to import data into an Azure SQL Server. The datamart then also automatically builds and links a dataset. You can then actually create dataflows that connect to the datamart and these can be used for DirectQuery or import if you enable the Advanced Compute Engine. 

Anyway, the main difference between a datamart and a dataflow really is where the data ends up getting persisted. In a straight-up dataflow, the data from the source systems get persisted in Azure Data Lake Gen 2 storage. Conversely in a datamart, the data gets persisted in an Azure SQL Server. I have some videos on this: