Need Help with Power BI Desktop: Real-Time Data Refresh from MongoDB

[Koe]

When using Power BI Desktop, I am retrieving data from MongoDB using ODBC and the MongoDB connector. I have successfully obtained the data and created charts using it. However, I have encountered an issue where I am unable to achieve real-time synchronization of the charts with updates made to the MongoDB data. Additionally, I am unable to set up an automatic refresh to retrieve the MongoDB data every 15 minutes. I have attempted to upload the project file to app.powerbi.com and configure gateways and cloud connections, but the refresh settings only allow for selecting eight time points per day, which does not meet my requirement for a 15-minute automatic refresh. Could you please advise on how to achieve a data refresh every 15 minutes?

[AnalyticPulse]

you can schedule a refresh 8 times a day in pro licenseand 48 times a day in premium license. mondodb has a powerbi connector that allows you connect via live connection but that is availableto M10+ tier only. you can try to create macro to refresh file manually.

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[Thejeswar]

Hi @Koe ,

You must be using PRO License which limits the no of refreshes for a dataset to maximum of 8 times a day.

In case if you want to refresh every 15 minutes, you might have to consider using a Premium per User License or have the report published to Premium Capacity Workspace

[Koe]

Thank you for your response. If I understand correctly, even with a PRO License, the maximum number of refreshes per day is 48 times, but the minimum interval between refreshes is still half an hour, which does not meet my requirement for a 15-minute refresh. Is there any other way to achieve this requirement?

[Thejeswar]

Yes even with Premium License the maximum number of refreshes is 48 times a day. The Other option that you can think of is using a Direct Query / Live Connection with the DB. This will keep the data real time, but the down side is if the data is huge, you might have some performance issues

[Koe]

Thank you. Perhaps I need to explore using Direct Query / Live Connection to fulfill this requirement. Additionally, due to company policies, we need to use an internal Power BI server. I would like to confirm if there are any potential issues, aside from performance concerns, when using Direct Query or Live Connection.

[Thejeswar · Accepted solution]

When it comes to Internal Power BI Server (Assuming a Private Cloud environment), don't think there will be any specific issues with respect to Power BI Desktop.

Few things you can keep in mind as far as I know are

1. The Power BI Desktop version may be different for Private Power BI Server and generally available Power BI Desktop

2. Release schedule might differ for the versions (So not all latest additions to Power BI might be available with your Internal Power BI Server).

The Above things you can check with your Power BI Admin to understand more about the policies applied to the Power BI Server

Regards,