Working with storage modes
In the previous section, we discussed various connection modes for the queries from a Power Query perspective. This section looks at different storage modes that apply to tables after the data is loaded into a data model or connected to a data source. Every table in a Power BI data model has a storage mode property that shows if the data is cached or not. There are three types of storage modes, as outlined next:
- Import: This means the data is cached in the memory. Therefore, all queries over a table with this storage mode get the results from the cached data.
- DirectQuery: The data is not cached; therefore, all queries fire back to the source system.
- Dual: The tables in this mode can get data from the cache or the source system. For instance, depending on the level of detail into which the user drills down in an aggregation setup, the query results may come from the cached data or directly from the source. We discuss aggregations in...