hardMultiple Choice
PL-900 Practice Question: A Power BI administrator for a large retail…
You are a Power BI administrator for a large retail company. The company has a Power BI workspace that contains a dashboard named 'Sales Overview'. The dashboard is shared with the sales team. Recently, users have reported that the dashboard is loading slowly, and some visuals show 'Data is not available' errors. The dashboard uses a DirectQuery connection to an on-premises SQL Server database. The database team confirms that the server is not under heavy load. You need to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. What should you do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume the issue is database-side (indexes or load) or try to change the connection mode (Import) without first verifying the gateway, which is the most common point of failure in hybrid Power BI deployments.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Check the on-premises data gateway performance and logs for errors
The on-premises data gateway is the critical bridge between Power BI and the on-premises SQL Server when using DirectQuery. Slow loading and 'Data is not available' errors often stem from gateway performance issues, connectivity problems, or errors logged by the gateway service. Checking the gateway logs and performance metrics is the first logical troubleshooting step before making architectural changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Check the on-premises data gateway performance and logs for errors
Why this is correct
DirectQuery routes every visual query through the on-premises data gateway, so gateway latency or errors produce slow loads and 'Data is not available' messages even when the SQL Server itself is healthy. Checking gateway performance and logs isolates the failing hop first.
- ✗
Replace the DirectQuery connection with an Import connection
Why it's wrong here
Switching to Import would cache data but abandons the near-real-time requirement DirectQuery exists to satisfy, and it does not address the failing gateway causing 'Data is not available'. Import is correct when latency tolerance allows scheduled refreshes instead of live queries.
- ✗
Ask the database team to add more indexes to the SQL Server tables
Why it's wrong here
Adding indexes targets query performance on the SQL Server, yet the database team confirms the server is not under heavy load, so the bottleneck lies elsewhere — most likely the on-premises data gateway. Indexing would be the right move when DirectQuery queries themselves are slow due to poor table scans.
- ✗
Increase the scheduled refresh frequency to every 15 minutes
Why it's wrong here
Scheduled refresh frequency applies only to Import datasets; DirectQuery models query the source live and have no refresh schedule to increase. This would be the right action for an Import model whose cached data is stale, not for a DirectQuery connectivity failure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PL-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PL-900 exam.