What is Gateway?
Gateway is an application and it provides the connection between Power BI cloud services and the data source located on-premises.
Using gateway you can schedule refresh the datasets on cloud. You can installed this application on any servers in the local domain.
Gateway is required- If the data source is located on-premises, then you need a gateway. Means, any local files, whether they are on a virtual machine or your local desktop, will require a data gateway.
For example- If you are fetching data from SQL Server database located on your local domain server, then you need a gateway.
Not required– for online or cloud-based data sources. For example- if you are getting data from CRM Online, Azure SQL DB, Azure Blob Storage etc., you don’t need a gateway.
Image source – docs.microsoft.com
Types of Power BI Gateway
- Personal Mode
- Standard Mode
On-premises data gateway (personal mode)
Only you can use this, and you can use it only for scheduling refresh in Power BI and It can be used only with Power BI service.
On-premises data gateway(recommended/ standard)
This gateway can be used by multiple users that have access to the server onto which you install the gateway. It can be used for both scheduling refresh and live queries in Power BI.
You can also use it for Power BI, PowerApps, Azure Logic Apps, Power Automate, Azure Analysis Services, dataflows.
On-premises data gateway(personal mode) Vs On-premises data gateway( recommended/ standard)
| Features | On-premises data gateway (personal gateway) | On-premises data gateway (recommended/ standard) |
| Cloud services supported | Power BI Only | Power BI, PowerApps, Azure Logic Apps, Power Automate, Azure Analysis Services, dataflows |
| Import data and set up scheduled refresh | Yes | Yes |
| Runs | As you for Windows authentication and as configured by you for other authentication types | As configured by users who have access to the gateway |
| Can install only as computer admin | No | Yes |
| Serves multiple users with access control per data source (Power BI Service) | No | Yes |
| Connection Type | Import | Import, Direct Query, Live Connection |
| Support for a live connection to Analysis Services | No | Yes |
| Usage | Analyst | BI admin, Developer |
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