Desktop performance versus Service

[PowerWhy]

Hello,

I have some visualisations that take about 50 seconds to load on desktop and about the same on Service. I was expecting Service (we have a premium workspace) to give a big performance uplift. Is it expected for there to be little performance difference beween desktop and Service, or do I need to configure the report/workspace differently?

Many thanks for your help,

CW

[PowerWhy]

Hi yes agree there is a DAX issue that needs to be investigated, but still surprised there was no performance gain on Service. Is this expected?

[Burningsuit]

Hi @PowerWhy 

There are two ways of accessing Data for the visualisations which may have an impact on your visualisation's performance.

If you are using Direct Query, to an SQL or similar database, each Visualisation will run a SQL query to refresh the visual, each time it's loaded. If your SQL database server responds slowly it would result in the sort of performance issues you are experiencing.

The solution in this case is to change to "Import mode" where the data is cached inside the Datamodel, which will remove the lag on rendering visualisation. Or upgrade the SQL server to a faster machine.

In my experience most speed issues are initially because people use Direct Query but don't understand what it does. The number of SQL queries generated is high and their SQL server can't serve the data fast enough. In that case the speed issue would be the same whether it was Desktop or Service and irrespective of the licence or workspace type.

Hope this helps

Stuart

[ibarrau · Accepted solution]

Hi. If you have a visual that is taking 50 seconds to load it doesn't matter if you have using the highest premium with ram, there is an issue in a measure or the visual. There are no additional configurations. I would strongly suggest to review with performance analyzer tool inside power bi desktop, which visual is the one that is taking the most time. It might be an issue of one visual taking time to prevent others to load. You can find many videos about performance analyzer.

I hope that helps,