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johnmelbourne's avatar
johnmelbourne
Helper V
6 years ago

Connect to off-premises external vendor SQL database

Hi, We have an external vendor providing a database solution and I want to connect to it via Power BI. Can someone direct me to some resources as I am having issues and most help refers to connectin...
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johnmelbourne's avatar
johnmelbourne
Helper V
6 years ago

We are not accessing the vendors database at the moment at all. They send files / make files available for download.

I am guessing if they connect locally within their domain to the database, then send me the .pbix file via email, then I upload to the service, it will use the gateway to access the database referenced in the .pbix.

 

Do you think that will work?

 

lbendlin's avatar
lbendlin
Super User
6 years ago

This will leave you flying blind, and rather sooner than later will become a maintenance nightmare. I would try to find alternative arrangements.

  • johnmelbourne's avatar
    johnmelbourne
    Helper V
    6 years ago

    lbendlin Why do you say flying blind? If the vendor imports the data into a pbix and keeps relationships, then the vendor sends the pbix to us, then we rework the model to something efficient and publish to the service, which connects via the vendors gateway to the data source and refreshes the data, what is the issue here?

     

    What is the 'maintenance nightmare?'.  I note the database structure is highly unlikely to change.

     

    Can you elaborate?

     

     

     

    • v-kelly-msft's avatar
      v-kelly-msft
      Community Support
      6 years ago

      Hi  johnmelbourne ,

       

      If you did so,you should first make sure that you have access to the data source provided by the vendor,then you  should also make sure that you can connect to the related gateway for refresh.Both the 2 steps may cause issues during maintenance.

       

      Best Regards,
      Kelly
      Did I answer your question? Mark my post as a solution!

       

       

      • johnmelbourne's avatar
        johnmelbourne
        Helper V
        6 years ago

        Thanks, I already have a configrued gateway that is connecting to the external database. I think getting them to create a pbix locally and then me uploading to the service is the way forward.

         

        Thanks