Understanding licencing and gateways

[Michael986]

We have just a single user in our company who has a Power BI Pro licence - he creates reports which access data on an Azure SQL server (connected by VPN, so technically 'local'), and sends the links to other users in the organization so they can view the reports. To do this, he has installed the On Premise Gateway on his PC.

This all works fine, except when this user shuts down their PC. This stops any of the other users accessing the reports - I assume because the Gateway is no longer running.

I don't know much about Power BI, but is this the way it's supposed to be set up? I assume in a large enough setup we'd get the Premium licence and a dedicated Power BI server where all reports would be stored / accessed from. But in a small setup like this, what would be the recommended setup?

[Michael986]

Thanks.

So if he accessed the data using the cloud address, would he still be able to share his reports with other users? And without using the gateway?

But if we assume that the data was on a local SQL server, what would be the correct setup then? The way he's currently done it?

[Tutu_in_YYC]

Accessing the data through cloud and sharing reports are separated, so yes he can still share the report to others (assuming licensing requirements are fulfilled, changing the way he access the data source doesnt change the licensing requirements)

If it is local (on-premise) SQL server, the current setup is correct, just have to make sure that the computer is not turn off when the report refresh is being done. Servers usually are on 24/7. 

[Michael986]

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@Tutu_in_YYC wrote:

If it is local (on-premise) SQL server, the current setup is correct, just have to make sure that the computer is not turn off when the report refresh is being done. Servers usually are on 24/7. 

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This is what I'm not understanding - you say 'servers usually are on 24/7' as if the gateway should be running on a server. But the setup I have (which you say is correct for on-premise SQL) has Power BI and the gateway running on the user's PC. It's when the gateway is switched off that the other users cannot access the reports.

So how do I get around the problem (in the on-premise SQL server scenario) of the reports being unavailable when the user shuts down his PC (and therefore the gateway)?

So what 

[Tutu_in_YYC]

Gateway is usually installed in the computer where the data source resides (i.e Server, but the best practice is to install in a separate 24/7 computer that has network connection to the server), not Power BI. 

If your report is using Import mode, then the only time the gateway is being used is when the dataset is being refresh. Other than that, the gateway can be switched off (common for non-servers).

If your report is using Direct Query/Live Connection, then if the gateway is off, the report will not be able to retrieve the data from the data source. 

So how do I get around the problem (in the on-premise SQL server scenario) of the reports being unavailable 
when the user shuts down his PC (and therefore the gateway)?

You option is to use import mode.

Are you using direct query or live connection?

[Michael986]

Hi,

He's using the 'Direct' mode. 

Thanks very much for the explanation. I've now got a better understanding of how things 'fit together' and so I'll be suggesting he stop using the gateway altogether and use the direct cloud connection. Hopefully it's a simple change to his existing reports so that they connect directly and not via the gateway!

[Tutu_in_YYC]

If the data is in Azure SQL Server, he should access the datasource directly using the server cloud address ( not using the vpn ) when creating the report in Power BI desktop. This way, he doesnt even need to install a gateway and Premium is not required to set this up.