Power Bi Specs for thirty members of staff

[nckslater]

Hi all, 

We are looking at a solution to pull data from an SQL server and display dashboards and run reports for thirty members of staff. 

To pull real time data from the SQL server does the SQL server need to be of a higher spec or should Power Bi run on a stand-alone server? At the moment we are still running all servers on prem but looking to move most of our infrastructure to the cloud next year so would like to futureproof this project.  

How best to achieve this? 

Thanks 

[otravers · Accepted solution]

Yes if you use DQ then all queries are pushed back to the source server so you'll have to take into account how much load that might generate. I'd advise against directly querying a production server that's not dedicated to BI!

Be aware that the recommended mode for Power BI is Import rather than Direct Query, this will most often perform better and you won't have to worry as much about the impact on the source database (except during refreshes). With Power BI Pro you can refresh up to 8 times a day, with Power BI Premium per User you could refresh even more aggressively.

You can also use composite models to combine Import for the bulk of your data with Direct Query to get the freshest results, in case you really meant it with "real time". I'm asking because for many people "real time" really means once a day or even just once a week.

[otravers]

Can you define what "real time" means for you? Is it your intent to build Direct Query reports in Power BI that query the SQL database live, or would it be acceptable to refresh data and import it in Power BI a few times a day?

[nckslater]

Hi @otravers 

Thank you for your response. 

I was looking to build Direct Query reports in Power BI that query the SQL database live and the specs needed for a server to be able to do this.

I'm guessing the server running the SQL content needs to have sufficient specs to run the database and the queries or does it not work like that? 

I'm new to Power Bi so looking for some pointers of where to start and how best to set this up.