Hey everyone! I'm currently using an on-premise SQL 2022 Standard server for our ERP solution. We rely heavily on Power BI to run queries against this database, but it's been pretty slow. I'm exploring options to 'mirror' our on-prem SQL database to a SQL Fabric database. The goal is to develop with Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio using this Fabric SQL database as a data source. I'd also like to switch our existing Power BI jobs to point at the new Fabric SQL database. Ideally, this mirrored database would be read-only and updated nightly.
I have a few questions:
1) Is it really possible to mirror the on-prem SQL to Fabric SQL as I described? I've read some articles hinting this could be done through a gateway.
2) Can Azure AI Foundry and Power BI access this mirrored SQL database in Fabric?
3) What should I expect in terms of costs? Our SQL database isn't massive; it's about 400GB, but I'm curious about any licensing for Fabric, AI Foundry, and egress costs. I know some of these features are still in public preview, so I'm gathering information.
Thanks in advance for your insights before we dive deeper into this!
2 Answers
Great question! If you want more insights, I'd recommend checking out the Microsoft Fabric community. There are plenty of folks there who have handled similar projects and can share their experiences.
To answer your first two questions: yes, it is possible to mirror your on-prem SQL database to Azure Fabric using a gateway. You’ll want to set up a data gateway to facilitate the connection. As for whether Azure AI Foundry and Power BI can use that mirrored SQL database, they definitely can! Just make sure everything is configured correctly on the Azure side to allow for smooth integration.
Thanks for the clarity! I currently don’t have a gateway set up. Power BI is running on-prem and connecting via an ODBC connector. I thought the gateway would help with mirroring.
That sounds like a helpful suggestion! I’ll definitely look into it. Thanks!