Where you store your data makes a difference when dealing with data refresh.

Consider the frequency of data updates when selecting the data storage location.
When the data is on your local desktop, you’ll generally find better performance,
even with large datasets. With shared data accessible over the Internet, you are
reliant on network connectivity and other users accessing the data source. Data
stored on the desktop is managed by one person — you.

You don’t always have to store the data directly in Power BI Desktop. You can
always use Desktop to query and load data from external sources. If you prefer to
extend your data model with calculated measures or a specific relationship, con-
sider importing the Power BI Desktop file into a Power BI Online site for easier
manipulation.

Databases are a bit different from files because you connect to a live data source —
sources requiring an Internet connection which are made available to either a
small subset of users or to many users for consumption. This is especially true
when the database is available “as a service,” such as Azure SQL Database, Azure
Cosmos DB, Azure Synapse Analytics, or Azure HDInsight. Because the data is live,
all that a data professional must do is appropriately model the data first. Once
satisfied with the intended model, the user can explore the data, manipulate the
data, and create data visualizations.

If you want to explore a plethora of data sources beyond those offered by Micro-
soft, including open source and third-party options, you need to utilize Power BI
Desktop. Online Services offers a narrow range of options, whereas Desktop offers
over 100 options for you to choose from.

The term data gets thrown around a lot — you’re probably already confused about
data, datasets, dataflows, and even databases. And believe me, I throw lots of data
words at you in this book. When it comes to data ingestion, “dataset” and “data
source” are treated the same, even though they’re actually just distant relatives
that support the same mission.

You create a dataset in Power BI whenever you use the Get Data feature. It’s what
allows you to connect and import data, including from live data sources. A dataset
stores all the details about the data source and its security credentials. A data
source is where all the data stored in the dataset is derived, which can be a pro-
prietary application data source, a relational database, or a stand-alone file stor-
age alternative such as a hard drive or file share.

CHAPTER 4 Power BI: The Highlights 51