Microsoft Certified: Fabric Analytics Engineer AssociateImplement and manage semantic models (30-35%)Hard
A data engineer is tasked with designing a new semantic model in Microsoft Fabric. The model will consume data from a Data Lakehouse that is updated hourly. The business stakeholders require that the reports built on this model reflect data with no more than a 15-minute latency. Which refresh strategy and storage mode combination should the engineer recommend for the core fact tables?
- ADirect Lake mode with automatic refresh every 15 minutes.
- BDirectQuery mode with automatic refresh every 15 minutes.
- CImport mode with incremental refresh every 15 minutes.
- DImport mode with scheduled hourly refresh.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Direct Lake mode with automatic refresh every 15 minutes.
Direct Lake mode queries data directly from the Data Lakehouse, providing near real-time data with low latency without importing data. With a 15-minute automatic refresh, the semantic model's metadata is updated to reflect the latest state of the Lakehouse, meeting the latency requirement.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. DirectQuery mode would work, but Direct Lake offers better performance by avoiding the DirectQuery overhead and leveraging the Lakehouse's open format data.
- C. Import mode with incremental refresh still requires data import and would likely incur higher latency than Direct Lake for a 15-minute requirement, especially if the import process takes longer.
- D. Import mode with hourly refresh would result in up to 60-minute latency, failing the 15-minute requirement.
Direct Lake Mode
A semantic model connection mode in Microsoft Fabric that allows Power BI to directly read data from Delta tables in a Data Lakehouse, providing high performance and near real-time data.
- Queries data directly from Delta tables.
- No data import or duplication.
- Offers near real-time data and high performance.
Memory trick: Direct Lake is fast from Lake, Import needs refresh, DirectQuery is live from source.