Power Bi Enterprise Gateway Memory Usage

[bfausti]

It seems that the Enterprise Gateway service is a memory hog and is dramatically slowing our production server down. Does anyone know if it is possible to limit it's memory usage similiar to the way you can restrict MSSQL memory usage?

[edhans · Accepted solution]

Adjust gateway performance based on server CPU | Microsoft Docs has info on this, but your gateway should not be on the production SQL server. That server should dedicate 100% of resources to Power BI.

The gateway should be on a separate machine (not a domain controller) where memory is available or even a beefy workstation. See On-premises data gateway sizing - Power BI | Microsoft Docs for sizing recommendations.

But pull it off of the database server. That will slow the server down, or radically slow the report refreshes down, or both.

[edhans · Accepted solution]

Adjust gateway performance based on server CPU | Microsoft Docs has info on this, but your gateway should not be on the production SQL server. That server should dedicate 100% of resources to Power BI.

The gateway should be on a separate machine (not a domain controller) where memory is available or even a beefy workstation. See On-premises data gateway sizing - Power BI | Microsoft Docs for sizing recommendations.

But pull it off of the database server. That will slow the server down, or radically slow the report refreshes down, or both.

[bfausti]

Thanks for your response.

But, we do not have another machine where we can put the gateway on to. We are small organisation and only running a VPS which is hosted with a third party provider. Basically, we have one server running IIS, MSSQL and PowerBi.

I'll review the link you provided on adjusting gateway performance, hopefully that helps.

[edhans · Accepted solution]

Ok. I'll mark that as a solution. But remember that a gateway does not need to be on a server. Buy a cheap desktop with 16-32GB of RAM, install Windows 10 on it, install the gateway and call it a day.

[bfausti]

Ok thanks Edhans, so the gateway can be on any machine on any network right?

[edhans]

Yes, with the following caveats:

1. It cannot be on a Domain Controller
2. It should not be on a database server (for reasons you have seen)
3. It must have access to the database, so if it is on a separate network, it must have access to the database server via VPN or however you do it.
4. Needs to be Windows 10 or later, or I think Windows Server 2012 or later. Windows 7 and Server 2008 are no longer supported.
5. You need an up to date version of the .NET framework, but the installer will tell you if it isn't high enough when installing.
6. It should be on a machine that is on 24/7 so laptops are a bad idea. Disable sleep mode if it is a workstation.