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We are developing a custom connector that will make use of Azure Data Lake Gen 2.
As a custom connector, a gateway is required to perfrom refreshes in the service. My question is whether certifying the connector would allow refreshes in the service without using a gateway. Some Microsoft connectors to cloud services work this way, others such as the SQL Server connector still require a gateway even if the server in in Azure.
There are other posts related to this - I did not find anything that explicitly answered this question.
Can anybody give me a definitive answer?
Solved! Go to Solution.
Hi @BasilR ,
Yes, you can mke a connector that does not need the gateway. The circumstance for this is if the data source is on the cloud.
I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!
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This is the reply I received from the Power BI team:
To clarify – a gateway is requiring during development, but would become optional after certification. The Power BI service environment essentially hosts a “cloud gateway” that runs similar to the on-prem gateway. After certification, we will deploy your connector to this environment so that it is available to all Power BI customers.
@collinq ,
Thanks for your reply.
The Power BI connector for Azure SQL Database does not require a gateway to refresh in the service. Niether does the Azure Data Lake Gen 2 connector and a number of others.
However if you connect to a SQL Server database even if that SQL Server is running on a VM in Azure you have to use a gateway to refresh in the Power BI service.
You are right that a certified connector and a gateway are not necessarily related (see my example above). My question is quite specific - is it possible create a certified connector (not from Microsoft) that does not require a gateway for refreshes in the service. And if so under what conditions and restrictions.
The objective is to provide a service to several thousand customers without having the cost overhead and complexity of running gateways.
Regards
B
Hi @BasilR ,
Yes, you can mke a connector that does not need the gateway. The circumstance for this is if the data source is on the cloud.
I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!
Proud to be a Datanaut!
Private message me for consulting or training needs.
Hi @BasilR ,
I am not sure that I agree with you that you have to have a gateway, for SQL Azure. The purpose of a gateway is only used to inside your network. To quote Microsoft "Power BI Gateway is a software that is required to access data situated in an on-premises network. Gateway act as a gatekeeper for the on-premises data source. If anyone needs to access on-premises data from a cloud or web-based app, the request goes through the gateway. "
Therefore, I don't think that the two things are related. A connector is just the way to get to the data source.
A certified connector is Microsoft giving the developer a certification for a public product.
Therefore, a certified connector and a gateway are not necessarily related. Only if the certified connector is being used to access data inside a network from the Service will that specific user have to install a gateway.
I would appreciate Kudos if my response was helpful. I would also appreciate it if you would Mark this As a Solution if it solved the problem. Thanks!
Proud to be a Datanaut!
Private message me for consulting or training needs.
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