What is Power BI LIVE Connection?

“Visual Analytics” refers to the combination of data analytics and visualizations. By integrating interactive visual representations with underlying analytical processes, this problem-solving approach aims to effectively facilitate high-level, complex activities such as reasoning and data-driven decision-making. Microsoft Power BI is a Business Intelligence (BI) tool and Visual Analytics engine that offers real-time high-level analytics, extensive modelling, and custom development. It has led the charge in making business analysis more efficient through intuitive, interactive, and simple-to-use services.

In this article, you will gain information about Power BI Live Connection. You will also gain a holistic understanding of Power BI, its key features, Power BI Live Connection, difference between Power BI Live Connection & Direct Query mode, steps for creating a report with Power BI Live Connection and the limitations associated with Power BI Live Connection. Read along to find out in-depth information about Power BI Live Connection.

Prerequisites

• Install the SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular model.
• You can restore the AdventureWorks Tabular model after installing the SSAS Tabular instance.

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a Proprietary Data Visualization and Business Intelligence platform that is part of the Microsoft Power Platform. It is one of the most commonly used tools in businesses for analysing business data and creating reports. Power BI integrates with data using a variety of built-in software services, apps, and connectors to provide immersive visuals, interactive reports, and insights.

Power BI allows users to aggregate, analyse, visualise, and share data. It is a SaaS-based platform that is also available for desktop, mobile, and on-premise servers. Power BI supports connecting to a variety of data source connectors in order to load data directly into the Dashboard from the data source and visualise data stored in databases or data warehouses. Power BI Charts, graphs, KPIs, and reports are used by users to analyse data and gain interactive insights.

Key Features of Power BI

Some of the main features of Power BI are listed below.

• Hybrid Development: Power BI integrates with a variety of connectors, allowing users to connect to a variety of data sources.
• Modeling View: Power BI enables users to divide and slice complex data models into simpler forms, separate diagrams, and multi-select objects.
• AI Support: Power BI supports AI in Data Analytics, which users can use to prepare data, build Machine Learning models, and quickly identify insights from structured and unstructured data.
• Quick Insights: Power BI makes it easier for users to create data subsets and apply Data Analytics to that data.
• Report Sharing: Users can easily share their reports with other organisation users without having to worry about data security.

What is Power BI Live Connection?

Power BI Live Connection is a kind of connection in Power BI. It only connects to three types of data sources. This connection does not store a duplicate or secondary copy of the data in memory. Data will be stored in the data source, and Power BI visualizations will query the data source every time when needed.

The three types of data sources supported by Power BI Live Connection are as follows:

• SQL Server Analysis Services Multi-Dimensional
• SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular
• Power BI Service Dataset

These three types of data sources are based on SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) technology. A Power BI Live connection to the SQL Server database engine is not possible. SSAS technology, on the other hand, can be any of the two kinds:

• Cloud-based (Azure Analysis Services)
• On-premises (SSAS on-premises)

Difference between Power BI LIVE Connection & Direct Query Mode

Aspect	Live Connection	DirectQuery Mode
Data Storage	No data is stored in Power BI; data remains in the source system.	Only metadata is stored in Power BI; data stays in the source system.
Supported Sources	Limited to SSAS Tabular, SSAS Multidimensional, and Power BI Datasets.	Works with a broader range of data sources like SQL databases, Oracle, and more.
Data Refresh	Real-time updates as the data is always fetched from the source.	Queries are executed in real-time; however, there may be slight delays based on query performance.
Performance	Performance depends on the underlying source system.	May encounter slower performance due to frequent querying.
Data Modeling	No additional data modeling allowed in Power BI.	Allows limited modeling and calculated columns directly in Power BI.
Use Case	Ideal for centralized datasets managed in SSAS or Power BI service.	Suitable for scenarios with large datasets that cannot be imported due to size constraints.
Data Transformation	Minimal transformations supported, as data is managed at the source.	Allows some transformations within Power BI but is limited compared to Import mode.
Row-Level Security	Security is managed at the data source level.	Supports row-level security, configured in Power BI.
Query Load	Queries are sent directly to the source system on each user interaction.	Similar behavior with more query frequency on complex visuals.

How to create a Report with Power BI Live Connection

The steps associated with creating a report with Power BI Live Connection are as follows:

• Step 1: Open a Power BI Desktop, and navigate to the Home ribbon.
• Step 2: Click on the “Get Data” button and then from the drop-down, select “Analysis Services“.

• Step 3: SQL Server Analysis Services database dialog box appears. Here, in the Server field, type the instance name where SSAS is installed in your machine.
• Step 4: Select the “Connect Live” checkbox while connecting to the SQL Server Analysis Services database.
• Step 5: Click on the “OK” button.

• Step 6: In the Navigator window, select the “Adventure Works Internet Sales Model” option.
• Step 7: Click on the “OK” button.

Note: You must select a model rather than a table. And the model will be linked to Power BI because it includes multiple tables with their relationships, hierarchies, and calculations. You can see Live Connection mentioned on the right bottom side of Power BI Desktop.

Limitations of Power BI LIVE Connection

What you’ll find with Power BI Live Connections are limitations caused by the fact that Analysis Services is an Enterprise BI tool. As a result, if you’re going to connect to it, it’s likely that your IT team has already gone through extensive data cleansing and modelling.

Some of the limitations associated with Power BI LIVE Connection are given below:

• You are also limited to only one data source/database in Power BI Live Connection. Data from multiple data sources cannot be combined any longer.
• Power Query transformations are not available with Power BI Live Connection. In fact, in the Power BI Live Connection mode, Edit Queries and all related options are disabled. Because any changes you want to make to relationships or the query editor should be done in Analysis Services rather than Power BI.
• Before loading data into the SSAS model, all data transformation requirements must be met. Because SSAS is not a data transformation tool, you can use SSIS to transform data before loading it into the data warehouse, and subsequently process the data from the data warehouse into an SSAS data model.
• The relationship tab is not available with the Live Connection. In this mode, Power BI is reduced to a mere visualization tool.
• Modeling in Power BI is severely limited when using the Live connection. Only measures can be created. Report Level Measures are the type of measure that you can create with a Live Connection. Report Level Measures, as the name implies, are only applicable to this Power BI report. You cannot use the report level measures built in the previous Power BI report if you create another Power BI report that is connected live to the same data source.

Conclusion

In this article, you have learned about Power BI Live Connection. This article also provided information on Power BI, its key features, Power BI Live Connection, difference between Power BI Live Connection & Direct Query mode, steps for creating a report with Power BI Live Connection and the limitations associated with Power BI Live Connection.

Learn how to connect Oracle to Power BI using three straightforward methods. Our guide offers clear steps for efficient integration.

Sign up for a 14-day free trial and experience the feature-rich Hevo suite first hand. You may also have a look at the amazing price, which will assist you in selecting the best plan for your requirements.

Share your experience of understanding the Power BI Live Connection in the comment section below! We would love to hear your thoughts.

Frequently Asked Questions