Zansa › Answers › Integration and BI tools
What is a data gateway and when do I need one?
A data gateway is a piece of software that securely connects a cloud BI service to data held on your own network, such as an on-premises database. You need one when a cloud tool must refresh from sources that are not reachable from the internet.
Power BI, for example, uses an on-premises data gateway for scheduled refresh from internal sources.
Considerations:
- It must be installed on an always-on machine.
- If that machine is off, refreshes fail.
- It needs updates and monitoring.
An alternative is to copy on-premises data to a cloud warehouse on a schedule and connect the BI tool to that, which often simplifies refresh and security and removes dependence on a single office machine.
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