Power BI Refresh Frequency

[Spriinter]

I hope to display my Power BI report on a screen and refresh it very frequently (e.g. every 5 mins). My report connects to the SQL Server Database (on-premises gateway, "Import" method) and my account is with a Pro license (I do not plan to upgrade to Premium), I'm currently refresh my report 8 times per day.

I heard different opinions, some say even the premium lisence can only refresh 48 times per day, some say the "Automatic Page Refresh" enables refreshing at every 1 second (refrence: Real-Time Analytics in Power BI (analytics8.com)).

Can Power BI achieve a real-time refreshing with Pro lisence?

Thank you in advance!

[Jon-Heide]

This specific sub forum is for on premises Power BI Report Server topics. Note that on-premises the number report dataset refreshes in not controlled by licensing. From your question, you seem to imply this is hosted in the power bi service. 

A pro license there gives you rights to share content with other pro licensed users. Premium licensing is meant for broad distribution to other non-licensed report consumers. By refreshing, you can refres the report itself as often as desired, but the underlying dataset can be refreshed per the license limitations. For Pro that is 8 times per day. For Premium (and Premium Per User) that is 48 per day. 

If you need more up to date data, consider using direct query, where report views will re-query on-demand (provided you accept some additional perf latency due to connection time and underlying database). 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/connect-data/desktop-use-directquery

[Spriinter]

Hello Jon-Heide,

Thank you for the answer. Yes, I have experimented DirectQuery mode and the Automatic Page Refresh function. In DirectQuery it did refresh more frequently than Import, but another problem happened.

I set the Automatic Page Refresh of my report to "1 Minute" but when I publish this report to Power BI service, the most frequent refresh interval for my dataset is every 15 minutes. In case that I wish my report to refresh more frequently, is there a solution?

Thank you!

David Meng

[alicegray]

Hey! 
It’s possible to enable real-time report refresh capability in your Power BI Pro account. Here are some of the best ways: 

• Use DirectQuery – By implementing DirectQuery API in your Power BI account, your reports deliver up-to-date information without storing data in the internal storage. 

• Configure Scheduled Refresh – In your Power BI workspace, you can configure the frequency of report refresh within the Scheduled Refresh section. 

• Create Push Dataset API – By using PowerShell, you can create a custom push dataset API and integrate them with your reports, enabling real-time streaming and refreshing options.