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Managing CPU Spikes on Power BI Premium Capacity

  • mandarp0
  • Jan 23
  • 2 min read

Updated: Sep 4

Power BI Premium offers dedicated cloud capacity for enterprises, but CPU spikes can impact performance and report refresh times. This blog explores causes, impacts, and strategies to mitigate CPU spikes effectively.


Causes of CPU Spikes

1. Concurrent Data Refreshes: Multiple refreshes running simultaneously.

2. Complex Queries: Inefficient DAX or SQL queries.

3. High User Demand: Increased report access during peak hours.

4. Background Operations: Automatic processes consuming resources.

5. Memory Spills: Insufficient memory leading to disk operations.


Impacts of CPU Spikes


  • Slower Performance: Delayed report rendering.

  • Refresh Failures: Outdated data due to missed refreshes.

  • Capacity Throttling: Limited resource availability.

  • Increased Costs: Need for higher capacity.


Strategies to Manage CPU Spikes

1. Monitor Capacity Metrics


  • Use the Premium Capacity Metrics App to track CPU usage, refresh success rates, and query performance.


2. Optimize Queries


  • Refine DAX to avoid excessive iterators.

  • Streamline Power Query transformations.

  • Use aggregations effectively.


3. Schedule Refreshes Wisely


  • Stagger refresh schedules to avoid peak times.

  • Utilize incremental refresh to minimize load.


4. Use aggregation Tables


  • Pre-aggregated tables can reduce query load and improve performance.


5. Reduce Queries


  • Encourage query reduction settings and limit simultaneous visual loads.


6. Scale Capacity


  • Consider scaling up to higher SKU or distributing workloads across multiple capacities.


7. Leverage Dataflows


  • Offload transformations to Power BI Dataflows to reduce Premium capacity load.


8. Educate Report Designers


  • Train report authors on efficient query writing and performance tuning.



Conclusion

Proactively monitoring and optimizing workloads can mitigate CPU spikes and ensure consistent Power BI performance. If challenges persist, consulting Power BI experts or Microsoft support can help optimize your setup.

For expert data solutions tailored to your business, contact us at Numlytics. Transform your data into actionable insights!

 
 
 

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