PowerBI Premium features with Fabric capacity F32 or lower (Maximum time of refresh)

[Miguel_GSG]

I have the following question related with some power BI premium features. 

Power Bi Premium allows you to refresh a dataset over 48 times a day and with a maximum time of resfresh of 5 hours. If I purchase and F32 or lower do I get the same feature or it would be like a shared capacity in wich the maximum time of refresh is 2 hours and only 8 times per day and dataset? 

Regards, 

Miguel

[SaiTejaTalasila]

Hi @Miguel_GSG ,

Please go through this -

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-premium-what-is

You will definitely see some difference in refresh time when you are comparing different capacities.

Thanks,

Sai Teja 

[davidding]

This is my personal general understanding about Fabric capacity. Fabric capacity is all about Capacity Units (CU), and PBI Premium Capacity is both compute and features. CUs are used to measure the compute power available for each SKU. We've been testing Fabric on F2 capacity for a few weeks now, and hasn't yet came across any blocked features.

Plan your capacity size - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

We have however gone over the CU limit once and had to purchase a separate SKU.

If you're considering Fabric migration, I would strongly suggest you test with a smaller Fabric capacity and work your way up, while keep a close eye on usage with the Capcity Metrics App.

What is the Microsoft Fabric Capacity Metrics app? - Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

[Miguel_GSG]

@davidding Thank you

And do you know if there is a limit for the maximun refresh time in a F2-F32?  

[aj1973]

Hi @Miguel_GSG 

No, Power BI premium would need F64 or higher capacity.

[djurecicK2]

Along with @davidding 's reply, here is another example of a Power BI Premium workspace backed by F2:

[davidding]

hi @aj1973 are you sure about this? I thought the question is about scheduled data refresh rates. Even with a F2 capacity I can still schedule more than 8 refreshes in a day, i don't think it needs to be F64 or higher to unlock this feature.

[aj1973]

More than 8 refresh per day is a premium feature in a workspace with premium capacity. This feature needs F64 capacity or higher to enable up to 48 refresh per day. Free licenses or trial are by default using F64 capacity which more likely is what you are showing us as an example

[davidding]

hi @aj1973 , with full respect to you, the following statement is not true: "This feature needs F64 capacity or higher to enable up to 48 refresh per day".

I am on F2, and it allows up to 48 refreshes. The part that i'm not sure is around 5 hour time out limit.

[djurecicK2]

Hi @aj1973 ,

 This is interesting if true- is there any Microsoft documentation that you can show us?

The only thing I can find is that you PBI free licenses will not work with less than F64. 

[davidding]

yes you can. here is a test with a F2. I've scheduled 10 refreshes and can still add more.

[clstewart]

I also have the same questions and can not find any Microsoft Documentation on the following:  

How many refreshes are available for < 64?  Is there a corresponding table?

Secondly:  Are the PowerBi Pro licenses that come with the E5 license, able to be used for a) viewing the contents of a report b) ability to create a developer report equal to that created with the Microsoft Premier Premium license?

[aj1973]

As of yet there is no direct documentation on the features and use of every F capacity. I know through my experience as Fabric Tenant Admin and this Doc.

In regard your second question : Power BI Pro licenses are included in the E5 Suite subscription. So assign a Pro license to user will automatically allow him to consume items in Workspaces or Apps where he is added. But for a workspace that is used by a PPU license a user must have a PPU license as well to be able to consume the items in it.

[clstewart]

1) For Fabric Licenses i.e., F32 for example what is the number of refreshes allowed?  

2) Can PowerBi (free with E5) be used to view  with F32 or is it only with F64?  I do realize that you need Premium Licenses to create.

Thank you for your first response!

(Thank you for the first respond)

[aj1973]

F capacities refer to the use of DEDICATED capacities in Fabric as a whole. Power BI is one of the SaaS that is part of Fabric and Power BI premium uses a dedicated capacity (CU) of Fabric which can only be F64 or higher. So if it's not premium then Workspaces in Power BI do not use dedicated cloud resources/capacities and therefore other than premium workspace capacity the items in it can't be refreshed more than 8 times per day.

[clstewart]

So the answer to 1) is 8 and the answer to 2) is E5 licenses with Powerbi Pro included will not work with Fabric 32 to view. Correct?

[aj1973]

Correct 

[djurecicK2]

Sorry, but E5 includes a Power BI Pro license which will work with F32

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/e5?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-admin-licensing-organization#power-bi-...

Each Microsoft 365 E5 subscription includes standard capacity and a Pro license.

[aj1973]

Sorry but the 2 links you shared don't mention any where the use of F32. And I don't think you understand the relationship between capacities and licenses. SKU or F capacities are dedicated and applied at the Workspace level in Fabric(called capacity units CU or cores), while Power BI pro licenses applied at the UID or user principles level to allow them to use and consume items in Power BI.

Besides the thread here is about the number of refresh in power BI and not F32, the answer to this should be clear in the image I shared earlier.

[djurecicK2]

Hi @aj1973 ,

 In the spirit of community, let's work together to get the best answer out there.

Here is documentation that specifically mentions F32. There is no mention on the number of daily scheduled refreshes being restricted to 8. 

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/enterprise/service-premium-what-is

To test the number of scheduled refeshes, I created a Power BI Premium Capacity backed by Fabric F2.

I then published a report to that workspace and scheduled 12 daily refreshes with no errors and the option to add more daily refreshes: