Seeing Fabric Capacity Metrics Data for My Workspace PowerBIs

Hi ljt5 ,

You're correct that Power BI reports in "My Workspace" under a Pro license do not run on a Premium Capacity, which means they won’t be tracked in the Microsoft Fabric - Capacity Metrics App. That app only monitors datasets in a Premium Capacity.

Options to Monitor Power BI Consumption in My Workspace

Since My Workspace operates under shared cloud resources, Microsoft doesn’t provide the same detailed consumption metrics as Premium Capacity. However, here are some approaches to track and compare your dataset consumption:

1. Use Power BI Audit Logs (Limited Insight)

• What you get: Basic dataset usage metrics like refresh events, report views, and query execution.
• How to access:
  • Go to the Power BI Admin Portal (if you have admin rights).
  • Check Audit Logs in Microsoft Purview Compliance Center.
  • Filter logs for dataset refresh events.
• Limitations: Doesn’t provide granular CU (Capacity Unit) metrics or execution times per refresh.

2. Manually Measure Refresh Duration in My Workspace

• Steps:
  1. Record the Refresh Start and End Times in Power BI Service (My Workspace).
  2. Compare it against the same dataset in Premium Capacity.
• Limitations: No insight into CUs or detailed performance breakdown.

3. Temporarily Move the Dataset to a Premium Workspace for Testing

• Best way to get real CU metrics.
• Steps:
  1. Clone the Dataset (Save a copy) before making changes.
  2. Move it to a Premium workspace where it will be tracked in Fabric Capacity Metrics App.
  3. Run the dataset in the Premium workspace and compare CU usage before and after optimizations.
  4. Move it back to My Workspace (if needed).
• Why this works? The dataset will only consume Premium capacity when in a Premium workspace, letting you capture metrics before switching it back.

4. Use Performance Analyzer in Power BI Desktop

• What it does: Measures query performance before publishing.
• How to use:
  1. Open Power BI Desktop.
  2. Go to View → Performance Analyzer.
  3. Start recording and refresh visuals.
  4. Analyze slow DAX queries and dataset performance before publishing.
• Limitations: Doesn’t track refresh duration or CUs like the Capacity Metrics App.

What I Would Do in Your Case

Since you don’t want to move the problematic reports to Premium Capacity, you’ll have to measure impact in a different way. Here’s a structured approach:

1. Before Optimizations:

   • Record dataset refresh duration manually in My Workspace.
   • Run Performance Analyzer in Power BI Desktop to check query performance.

2. Make Optimizations:

   • Reduce dataset size (e.g., remove unused columns, optimize aggregations).
   • Improve DAX calculations (avoid heavy iterators like SUMX, FILTER).
   • Optimize refresh performance (incremental refresh, partitioning).

3. Compare Performance:

   • Measure refresh duration again in My Workspace.
   • If possible, temporarily test the dataset in a Premium workspace to get CU metrics.

4. Decide on Deployment:

   • If optimized reports now consume significantly less, consider moving them back to Premium Capacity.
   • Otherwise, keep them in My Workspace and continue monitoring refresh durations.