Skip to content

🚀 Power BI Service Cheat Sheet

Master the essential concepts of Power BI Service for publishing, sharing, and collaborating on your data insights.

🟡 Power BI Service Overview: The Cloud Command Center

The Power BI Service is the secure, cloud-based platform by Microsoft that serves as the central hub for your business intelligence ecosystem. It's where the magic of data sharing, collaboration, and consumption truly happens after you've built your reports in Power BI Desktop.

  • 📁 Repository: Host your .PBIX files—reports, dashboards, datasets—all in one place.
  • 🔒 Secure Sharing: Seamless collaboration across your organization (and beyond).
  • ⏰ Refresh & Alerts: Automated data refreshes and data-driven alerts keep insights up to date.
  • 🌐 Anywhere Access: Consume via web browser or mobile app on any device.
sequenceDiagram

    participant DS   as "Data Sources"
    participant PBD  as "Power BI Desktop"
    participant PBIS as "Power BI Service"
    participant EU   as "End Users"

    PBD  ->> PBIS : Publish Report (.PBIX)
    PBIS ->> EU   : Share & Collaborate
    EU   ->> PBIS : Consume via Web/Mobile
    PBIS ->> DS   : Schedule Refresh (via Gateway)
🌊 Power BI Ecosystem Flow

🗂️ Workspaces: Your Collaborative Sandboxes

A Workspace is a container for organizing and collaborating on related Power BI content (Reports, Dashboards, Datasets, Dataflows).

  • My Workspace: Personal sandbox—private, not directly shareable.
  • Shared/App Workspace: Team collaboration hub; source for Power BI Apps.
  • Capacity:
  • Pro license: 10 GB per workspace
  • Premium/Fabric: up to 100 TB 
graph LR
    A[Workspace]
    A -- Private --> B(My Workspace)
    A -- Collaborative --> C(Shared/App Workspace)
    C -- Publishes --> D(Power BI Apps)
📊 Workspace Types

💡 When to Use:
- My Workspace: Drafts & personal exploration.
- Shared/App Workspace: Team builds & published Apps.

📊 Reports: The Interactive Storytellers

A Report is a multi-page document of visuals, charts, and tables from one dataset.

  • Built in Power BI Desktop, published to Service.
  • Rich interactivity: filters, slicers, drill-through.
  • Ideal for deep exploration & detailed storytelling.

💡 Use Reports When:
- You need multi-page, interactive analysis.
- Users must slice/dice and drill down.

🖼️ Dashboards: Executive Snapshots

A Dashboard is a single-page canvas of pinned visuals (tiles) from one or more reports.

  • Created in Power BI Service only.
  • Combines visuals across reports/datasets.
  • Perfect for high-level KPI monitoring and data-driven alerts.

💡 Use Dashboards When:
- You need a one-page executive overview.
- Metrics must trigger immediate notifications.

🆚 Report vs Dashboard: A Quick Comparison

Feature Report Dashboard
Pages Multi-page for deep analysis Single-page “one-pager”
Creation Tool Power BI Desktop Power BI Service only
Underlying Data Single dataset Multiple reports/datasets
Interactivity High (filters, slicers, drill-through) Limited (clicking tile navigates)
Use Case Detailed analysis & deep dives KPI monitoring & quick checks
Alerts ❌ ✅ data-driven alerts

📦 Power BI Apps: Simplified Distribution

A Power BI App bundles curated reports and dashboards for broad consumption.

  • Built in App Workspaces; delivers a view-only experience.
  • Simplifies sharing with large audiences without workspace access.

💡 When to Use Apps:
- To distribute polished content at scale.
- For version-controlled, production-ready experiences.

💳 Viewer Licensing

Viewer License Required? Scenario
Free ✅ If App is on Premium/Fabric capacity
Pro ✅ Standard Pro workspace (publisher & viewer both need Pro)
PPU ✅ Personal Premium (paginated reports, AI, 48 refreshes/day)

💳 Power BI License Types & Pricing

Microsoft offers flexible licensing for various needs, from individual use to enterprise-wide deployments.

License Type Cost (USD) Sharing Key Features / Use Case
Free $0 ❌ no sharing Individual analysis; view content in Premium capacity
Pro ~$10/user/month ✅ Pro↔Pro Team collaboration; shared workspaces; 8 refreshes/day
PPU ~$20/user/month ✅ PPU↔PPU All Pro + Premium features (paginated, AI) ; 48 refreshes/day
Premium/Fabric From $262/month ✅ with Free Dedicated resources; enterprise-scale; advanced AI; auto-scaling

Costs approximate; vary by region & enterprise agreements.

🔐 Power BI Security: Safeguarding Your Data

Workspace Roles

Assign roles to control content management:

Role Key Capabilities
Admin Full control: manage access, publish apps, delete content
Member Create/edit content, publish apps, schedule refreshes; cannot manage access
Contributor Create/edit content; cannot publish apps—ideal for devs
Viewer View-only access to published content 
sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant Report
    participant Dataset
    participant RLS as RLS Roles (DAX)

    User->>Report: Access Report
    Report->>Dataset: Request Data
    Dataset->>RLS: Check Role
    RLS-->>Dataset: Apply Filter
    Dataset-->>Report: Return Filtered Data
    Report-->>User: Display Filtered View
🔒 RLS Flow

Row-Level Security (RLS): Defined in Desktop, managed in Service to filter rows per user.

🛡️ Additional Security Layers & Best Practices

Security Layer Description
Authentication Azure Active Directory (AAD) identity verification
Authorization Workspace roles & RLS govern data access
Encryption Data encrypted at rest & in transit (HTTPS/TLS)
Tenant Settings Admin controls for export, sharing, and sensitivity policies
Sensitivity Labels Classification via Microsoft Purview (e.g., “Confidential”)

Best Practices: - Principle of least privilege
- Use dynamic RLS for scalability
- Enforce MFA for all users
- Apply sensitivity labels to sensitive reports
- Audit workspace access & usage logs regularly

🔄 Data Refresh & Gateways: Keeping Insights Fresh

  • Data Refresh: Updates service datasets from sources.
  • Data Gateway: Secure bridge to on-premises data (SQL Server, local files).
  • Scheduled Refresh: Pro (8/day), Premium/Fabric (48/day).
sequenceDiagram
    participant PBIS as Power BI Service
    participant GW as Data Gateway
    participant ODS as On-Prem Data Source

    PBIS->>GW: Request Refresh
    GW->>ODS: Fetch Data
    ODS-->>GW: Return Data
    GW-->>PBIS: Forward Data
    PBIS->>PBIS: Update Dataset
🔁 Refresh Flow

⚙️ Other Key Service Components

  • Datasets: Import vs DirectQuery modes for data storage & query.
  • Dataflows: Self-service ETL to prepare & reuse data.
  • Datamarts: Managed Azure SQL DB for analytics between flows & warehouses.
  • Deployment Pipelines: (Premium/PPU) Manage content lifecycle across dev→test→prod.
sequenceDiagram
    participant RawData
    participant Dataflows
    participant Datasets
    participant Datamarts
    participant Reports

    RawData->>Dataflows: Prepare Data
    Dataflows->>Datasets: Load Data
    Dataflows->>Datamarts: Load Data
    Datasets->>Reports: Build Reports
    Datamarts->>Reports: Build Reports
🔧 Advanced Components Flow