Microsoft Fabric Lakehouses with Semantic Models and Direct Lake Mode

[Chandana_V]

Hi,

In Microsoft Fabric, I have created semantic model for lakehouse that include shortcuts. If I configure a semantic model to use Direct Lake mode, will Analysis Services read data directly from these shortcuts without data duplication?

Thanks

[VenuBollineni · Accepted solution]

Hi Chandana,

Yes, when you set up a semantic model in Microsoft Fabric to use Direct Lake mode, Analysis Services will read data directly from the shortcuts without making extra copies. This method ensures efficient data retrieval and avoids unnecessary duplication.

Example Scenario:

Imagine you have a lakehouse with sales data from different regions. You create shortcuts to these regional datasets in your lakehouse. By configuring your semantic model to use Direct Lake mode, Analysis Services can directly query these shortcuts. This setup allows you to generate a unified sales report that pulls data from all regions in real-time, without duplicating the data.