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ap360's avatar
ap360
Frequent Visitor
1 year ago

Slow refresh time in Power BI Service

Good day, My Power BI reports on Power BI Service takes much longer to refresh than on Power BI Desktop. I read a previous forum that suggested various solutions: 1) Utilizing a DirectQuery mode ra...
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Poojara_D12's avatar
Poojara_D12
Super User
1 year ago

Hi ap360 

To improve Power BI Service refresh times without relying on DirectQuery, incremental refresh, or upgrading to Premium, consider the following alternatives:

Optimization Suggestions:

  1. Optimize Queries:

    • Ensure your data source queries are efficient. Use indexed columns and avoid complex transformations or unnecessary data loads.
    • Utilize query folding where possible, as it pushes transformations to the data source for faster processing.

  2. Reduce Dataset Size:

    • Remove unnecessary columns and rows from your dataset.
    • Filter out historical data if it's not actively used in reports.

  3. Optimize Power BI Model:

    • Simplify DAX calculations or precompute them if feasible.
    • Use aggregations or summarized tables for large datasets.
    • Avoid excessive relationships or high-cardinality columns.

  4. Refresh Schedule Optimization:

    • Stagger refresh schedules for reports to reduce competition for shared resources.
    • Avoid refreshing during peak usage times.

  5. Partitioning Data (for large datasets):

    • Manually create smaller partitions to limit the amount of data processed in each refresh.

  6. Adjust Power BI Service Settings:

    • Disable "auto date/time" for your dataset, as it can create unnecessary hidden tables.
    • Enable parallel loading of tables, if applicable.

  7. Improve Data Source Connectivity:

    • Optimize network speed between Power BI Service and your data source.
    • Use a dedicated gateway for better connectivity and performance.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting:

  • Monitor refresh logs in Power BI Service to identify bottlenecks.
  • Check and optimize the performance of your data gateway if you're using one.

By addressing these areas, you can potentially improve refresh times without resorting to costly upgrades or architectural changes.

 

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Kind Regards,
Poojara
Data Analyst | MSBI Developer | Power BI Consultant
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@biconcepts?si=04iw9SYI2HN80HKS