Updated: May 31, 2023 (August 9, 2021)

Power BI Back-End Platforms Explained

Andrew analyzes and writes about Microsoft's data management, business intelligence, and machine learning solutions, as well as aspects of licensing... more

Microsoft offers customers several Power BI back-end platforms (shown here), including multiple cloud services and an on-premises Power BI Report Server. They vary by licensing model and by support for content types, client tools, data hosting, features, performance, scaling, and security. Choosing the correct back-end platform is key to meeting business requirements and controlling cost; however, choosing a Power BI back-end platform can be complex, and there is no one platform that meets all needs. Many customers find a hybrid deployment with on-premises and cloud components the only solution.

Platform Content and Functions

The back-end platforms act as repositories for the following components:

Reports
Datasets and table based on Power Query
Analysis Services Tabular data models
Data integration pipelines.

They are also the workhorse for numerous activities, including the following:

Authenticating users, applications, and data connections
Executing queries and controlling

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