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adeelnazir's avatar
adeelnazir
Helper I
5 years ago

Power BI Incremental Refresh taking more time than normal refresh

I've applied Incremental refresh on multiple tables having a complex model.

I've been followed all steps guides available in the documentation. Link

Below highlighted is showing incremental refresh time which is around 10 to 13 minutes. others are historic load. 

 

 

 

On the other hand, if I see a normal refresh taking 6 to 8min. The maximum rows that I've in a table would be less than 1M.

 

 

Please let me know where I need to check.

Note: I've double-checked Native query is enabled for all tables.

Please help.

Thanks

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6 Replies

  • GilbertQ's avatar
    GilbertQ
    Super User
    5 years ago

    Hi adeelnazir 


    To be totally honest, if the time taken is almost the same between a normal refresh and a incremental refresh I would just leave it as a normal refresh.


    If you are looking to get the incremental refresh working, make sure that the query being sent back to your source is sending through the right query?

    • adeelnazir's avatar
      adeelnazir
      Helper I
      5 years ago

      If you are looking to get the incremental refresh working, make sure that the query is sent back to your source is sending through the right query?

       

      How could I do so?

       

      And why should I leave it as normal? I was expecting very little time from an incremental refresh. Since I am doing only the last 6 months incremental refresh rather than full refresh (almost last 4 years)
      Not sure why the normal schedule is working faster than the incremental one. Then what's the benefit of Incremental refresh?

      Let me add one more thing, I'm running with Pro License.

  • GilbertQ's avatar
    GilbertQ
    Super User
    5 years ago

    Hi adeelnazir 

     

    You could do so with a tool that would allow you to see the queries being sent back to your source system. For example if it is SQL Server, you can use SQL Server Profiler to view the queries being sent to the SQL Server engine.

     

    I am not sure why it is not that much faster or slower there are a lot of things that this could depend on. I would say once again if there is not much difference then is it really worth all the effort?

    • adeelnazir's avatar
      adeelnazir
      Helper I
      5 years ago

      Ok, I got your point. So let say if I go with SQL profiler and see what queries are sending back and forth.

      Then my question will be what I need to see If I see any discrepancy?

      Let say if all working fine, Power BI will store the max date then try to find if there any date exists greater than stored, then load all data. 
      What are the possible points that I need to fix/check on incremental refresh?

       

      • v-kkf-msft's avatar
        v-kkf-msft
        Community Support
        5 years ago

        Hi adeelnazir ,

        You first need to confirm whether incremental refresh is configured correctly. If it is correct, how long does it take for the first refresh and subsequent refreshes of the dataset? If the dataset is not configured for incremental refresh, how long does it take to refresh? 

        The longer incremental refresh time may be related to the query folding and the complexity of the model.

        You can use Performance Analyzer to measure the processing time (including the time to create or update a visual) required to update report elements initiated as a result of any user interaction that results in running a query.

        If the problem is still not resolved, please provide detailed error information or the expected result you expect. Let me know immediately, looking forward to your reply.

        Best Regards,
        Winniz

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