Introduction to Power BI
Power BI is a business analytics service provided by Microsoft. It is used to analyze data and share insights. Power BI provides interactive visualizations with self-service business intelligence capabilities, where end users can create reports and dashboards by themselves, without having to depend on any information technology staff or database administrator.
Types of Power BI Gateways
There are two types of gateways used to connect to Power BI services and data sources: Personal Gateway and On-Premises Data Gateway.
Personal Gateway
Personal Gateway is used for personal use and does not require any organization’s credentials to connect to the database. It works only with Power BI cloud services and allows users to import data and set up scheduled refresh from the given data sources. It runs as an application for users who are not administrators of the computer and runs as a single user using login credentials.
How to Get Personal Gateway
• Click on the “Download Icons” in the top right corner
• Click on the “Data Gateway” from the drop-down menu
• You will see the different type of gateways on the Power BI page, which gets open on the new tab
• You can click on the “Download Gateway” option to download it
• Select “Personal Gateway” and carry on with the further installation
• After installation, you can connect to the database services using the windows authentication method
On-Premise Data Gateway
On-Premise Data Gateway is a paid service mostly used with an organization’s credentials to connect to the database. It works with Power BI cloud services, PowerApps, Azure Logic Apps, and Microsoft Flow. It allows users to import data and set up scheduled refresh from the given data sources and provides access to multiple users along with access control per data source. It also supports direct Query to SQL Server and monitoring and auditing services.
How to Get On-Premise Data Gateway
• Click on the “Download Icons” in the top right corner
• Click on the “Data Gateway” from the drop-down menu
• You will see the different type of gateways on the Power BI page, which gets open on the new tab
• You can click on the “Download Gateway” option to download it
• Select “Enterprise Gateway” and carry on with the further installation
• While signing in, enter the Email ID when prompted and insert the same email id which you had used to log in to the Power BI account
• This would become an admin for the gateway
• You can add other admin accounts later
• In order to configure the gateway insert the gateway name, recovery key and click on finish
How to get Power BI Enterprise Gateway?
Power BI Enterprise Gateway is a data gateway that can be used to securely access data sources from the cloud or on-premises data sources. It allows users to connect to corporate data sources and enables secure data access and refresh capabilities. In order to install and configure the Enterprise Gateway, follow the steps outlined below:
Step 1: Download
The first step is to download the Power BI Enterprise Gateway. This can be done by clicking on the ‘Download Icons’ in the top right corner of the Power BI website. From the drop-down menu select ‘Data Gateway’ which will open a new window with a list of gateways available. Select ‘Enterprise Gateway’ and click ‘Download Gateway’.
Step 2: Sign In
When prompted, enter the Email ID that was used to log in to the Power BI account. This will become the admin for the gateway. Additional admin accounts can be added later.
Step 3: Configure
Once the download is complete, configure the gateway by entering the gateway name, recovery key and click ‘Finish’.
Step 4: Connect Data Sources
The final step is to connect to data sources. The Enterprise Gateway allows users to easily access and refresh data from corporate data sources. This can be done by selecting the data sources, authenticating with the gateway, and then allowing Power BI to refresh the data.
Conclusion
The Power BI Enterprise Gateway is a powerful data gateway that enables users to securely access corporate data sources and refresh data. By following the steps outlined above, users can easily install and configure the Enterprise Gateway and connect to the desired data sources.