Fabric Capacity Optimization

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the details.

Switching from DirectQuery to Import mode usually reduces query processing load, but it might not immediately affect overall Capacity Unit (CU) utilization because:

VNET overhead is mostly fixed: The Virtual Network infrastructure consumes a baseline amount of capacity that does not fluctuate significantly with your report sizes or query modes.

CU utilization includes all components: Capacity utilization reflects all running Fabric services, including VNET, background tasks, and Power BI workloads.

Small semantic models mean query load may already be low: With models under 50 MB and only 5-7 reports, the query-related CU consumption might have been low even before, so the noticeable change is minimal.

Metrics may have delay or smoothing: Sometimes, CU metrics don’t immediately reflect workload changes, especially if cache warm-up or background refreshes continue.

Recommendations:
Use the Fabric capacity monitoring tools to analyze detailed consumption per workload and component.

Verify VNET configuration and traffic to rule out any unexpected network overhead.

If VNET consumption dominates and impacts your capacity needs, consider discussing options with Microsoft support or evaluating capacity sizing/scaling.


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