Power BI Private Link Limitations

[sebastiand]

Hi 

I'm reading about power BI  private link limitation.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-security-private-links#considerations-...

Could someone explain what the part:

"If internet access is disabled, and if the dataset or dataflow connects to a Power BI dataset or dataflow as a data source, the connection fails"

in the documentation means in practice?

This point is very unclear.

[v-xiaoyan-msft]

Hi  @sebastiand ,

using a private link does not necessarily mean that every report must have its dedicated dataset. Private endpoints in Power BI provide secure access for data traffic. They guarantee that traffic going into your organization’s Power BI items, such as reports or workspaces, always follow your organization’s configured private link network path. However, this does not change the way datasets are used in Power BI. You can still use shared datasets across multiple reports even when using private links.

Private endpoints for secure access to Power BI - Power BI | Microsoft Learn

Best regards.
Community Support Team_Caitlyn

[sebastiand]

Could someone confirm that the full private link configuration actually means that every report must have its dedicated dataset? 

@v-xiaoyan-msft 

I would be very grateful for a response

[sebastiand]

Hi @v-xiaoyan-msft 

Thank you very much for your response.

"that is set up to pull data from another Power BI dataset"

Is it simply about the shared dataset functionality here where we can have one dataset that multiple reports use?

And does this mean that by using a private link, every report must have its dedicated dataset?

Or  it perhaps refer to the comosite model and scenarios where we connect to multiple datasets ?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/transform-model/desktop-composite-models

[v-xiaoyan-msft]

Hi @sebastiand ,

The statement “If internet access is disabled, and if the dataset or dataflow connects to a Power BI dataset or dataflow as a data source, the connection fails” refers to a scenario where you’re using Power BI’s private link feature.

In practice, this means that if you have a dataset or dataflow in Power BI that is set up to pull data from another Power BI dataset or dataflow, and you’ve disabled internet access, the connection between these datasets or dataflows will fail. This is because the private link feature relies on Azure Private Link, which provides private connectivity from a virtual network to Azure platform as a service (PaaS), customer-owned, or Microsoft partner services1. It simplifies the network architecture and secures the connection between endpoints in Azure by eliminating data exposure to the public internet.

However, when internet access is disabled, this secure connection can’t be established, causing the connection failure. This is an important consideration when planning your network architecture and security with Power BI.

Best regards.
Community Support Team_Caitlyn