Power BI Pro - Power BI gateway needed?

[murmeltier07]

Hello,

I using Power BI Desktop to visualize datas from a local sql Server.

I am interested in Power BI Pro. Did I need the Power Bi Gateway to get a connection to the local sql Server?

Or I am able to work with Power BI Desktop with the Pro features (Dashboard etc.)?

Thank you,

Andreas

[v-frfei-msft]

Hi @murmeltier07,

Actually Power BI desktop is a free application that the Pro license is not required here. If you just want to import data from sql server to desktop that the gateway is not necessary. If you conenct to the sql servcer database using Direct query and publish the report to Power Bi service, then the gateway is required. And if you want to configure schedule refresh in Power Bi service for the published report, you should install and configure the gateway. (Both import and direct query). For more details, please check the online document. If any other question, feel free to let me know please.

Regards,

Frank

[murmeltier07]

Hello @v-frfei-msft

thank you for your answer. I want to create a dashboard with local datas from a sql Server with Power BI Pro ( in Power BI Desktop?) and share this with a person in the company. Do I need a gateway in this case?

In the moment I do not understand the difference between the Power BI Pro Versio and Desktop Version. Is the Pro Version direkt a cloud solution?

Thank you,

Andreas

[v-frfei-msft · Accepted solution]

Hi @murmeltier07,

If you import the data and publish the report to service and that you don't want to configure refresh your dataset, then here the gateway is not required. Then you can use the report to create dashboards. By this way, you can refresh your data in Power Bi desktop and republish again and again.

What's more, All users in the service are either Free or Pro. The main difference between a Free or Pro user is centered around sharing and collaboration. Only Pro users can publish content to app workspaces, consume apps without Premium capacity, share dashboards and subscribe to dashboards and reports. Please notice, the Pro license is also required for the recipients. For more information about pro license, Please refer to the online document.

Regards,

Frank

[Anonymous]

I believe if you're not going to want to manually refresh things within your PowerBI Service every time your data changes on premises, then you need a data gateway to connect to your data, gather any updates, and push them up.

However, in Desktop version, you just need to use the DirectQuery whenever you are connecting to your database so that any change will be synched with PowerBi as well