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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
Not applicable
5 years ago
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Gateway for data on any cloud storage?

Hi Folks, From my understanding, we don't require a gateway when the data source is on a Microsft Cloud. But does the same applied to data in any cloud storage not owned by Microsoft? Do we need a g...
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  • v-lionel-msft's avatar
    v-lionel-msft
    5 years ago

    Hi Anonymous ,

     

    "we don't require a gateway when the data source is on a Microsft Cloud. But does the same applied to data in any cloud storage not owned by Microsoft?"

    Cloud data sources can be refreshed without the need for a gateway, but some cloud data sources also support refreshing through a gateway, but it is not necessary.

     

    Power BI data sources 

     

    Best regards,
    Lionel Chen

    If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

lbendlin's avatar
lbendlin
Icon for Super User rankSuper User
5 years ago

Basically the problem is that the Azure cloud (where the Power BI service resides) needs to be able to access the data source.  If that data source is, let's say, a SharePoint Online Folder then the Azure cloud can access the data directly. If however the data source is an on-premise SharePoint  then the Azure cloud cannot get to the data source.  In this case it needs a helper - a request broker. That's what the gateway does as its primary job - an access request broker between the Azure cloud and and a data source that is not directly accessible to the cloud service. (There are other jobs that the gateways do but these are not part of the discussion here).

 

Long story short - it depends. Try it without a gateway and if it works then fine, if not then use a gateway.