Connecting to a secure SQL server (Private endpoint)

[agilista]

As a relative newbie I'm trying to make sure my application is decently secured. To this end I've disabled access to my Azure SQL server and CosmosDB, then added private endpoint connections so the DataFactory can read and write to those databases.

I've also added my personal IP address so that I can author my PowerBI reports but now comes the challenge; as soon as I publish them, I can't set them to automatically update since the PowerBI service does not have access.

I tried adding private endpoints between SQL Server/CosmosDB and the PowerBI service but when I select the PowerBI service in the endpoint definition, I get a message saying I don't have a PowerBI service.

I've search the Internet and the only option I found is to install the PowerBI On Premise Data Gateway in a virtual machine but I can't imagine there aren't more elegant solutions available. (Also; as with most challenges I face in Azure; there really isn't much to be found on the internet. Apparently either I'm really thick and don't see the obvious, or I'm so far ahead that no one's faced this problem before. I'm thinking the former)

What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick reply. I share your feelings about this solution. As always: Beneath the "everything is easy in the cloud"-surface there are several obstacles to overcome.

[agilista]

I think that beneath "Everything is easy in the cloud" lie the developers that do the hard work 😉 (like you and me)

[Anonymous]

@agilista did you find a solution for this problem? I am in the exact same situation.

[agilista]

@Anonymous I'm afraid the only solution I found is the "on premise" data gateway (with "on premise" between quotes since the general concensus is that you need a VM for this).

Personally I think this is a dirty solution. It's Azure cloud to Azure cloud, I should be able to just add PowerBI to my virtual network. But for the moment I'm afraid Microsoft isn't there yet 😞

[v-jingzhang]

I do believe you are far ahead of me 🙂 

It is probably an option worth trying currently to install an on-premises data gateway since Power BI Service cannot connect to your SQL Server / CosmosDB directly.

Hope to see more ideas.