Virtual Machine for Data Gateways & Macbook Users

[NeedzJ]

Hi All,

Previous forum posts have been a little unclear on this topic, and most don't seem to get a conclusive answer so I'm going to try reinvigorate this topic...

Two scenarios I'd like to run by everyone and get some opinions/advice on:

1) Running Power BI Desktop in an Azure VM when using a Macbook Pro.

In my personal circumstances I'm pretty sure this is the best option moving forwards, I currently use Parallels but my hardware is maxing out when I get into the nitty gritty of query changes and data refreshes. My original thought would be to use a PAYG option but I'd like to know if any has any preferred builds or recommendations?

2) Using an Azure VM to act purely as a Data Gateway for scheduled refresh of on-premise databases.

Firstly, is this the best option or is there another alternative? Leading on from that, any suggested spec and also (pardon my naivety) is it possible to have a VM schedule its 'on' time or would it need to be done manually/always be on?