Power BI Releases On-Premises Server

Power BI Report Server is a reporting component of SQL Server Enterprise edition that provides customers with the ability to host and share Power BI reports by using local hardware. It enables organizations to use Power BI technology and report design tools but control sensitive data and reports locally, which is important for customers with regulatory and security issues. It also helps minimize the need for individual user licenses, although report authors—those who create and publish reports—require Power BI Pro user licenses. The product requires frequent updates at a pace dictated by Microsoft.

Overview

Power BI Report Server is a component of SQL Server and a superset of SQL Server Reporting Services. It includes all the features of Reporting Services, plus the ability to host and share Power BI reports. It is deployed on-premises, and for organizations interested in using Power BI reports, it might be a better alternative than deploying SQL Server Reporting Services itself.

With Power BI Report Server, customers are responsible for the local hardware and the deployment and maintenance of the on-premises environment, including the underlying Windows Server OS. Power BI Report Server can be installed stand-alone or connected to a Power BI Premium subscription, which provides advanced functionality, including shareable dashboards, real-time streaming data, and interactive query that are not available in stand-alone mode. (See “Power BI Premium Introduces Entry-Level Packaging“.)