Big Data in Power BI: Handling billions of rows with great performance

Data Céilí are proud to bring you this pre-conference event. All of our precons will be running in Trinity College Dublin on Thursday 12th June 2025.

• Seats are limited so don't delay! Once we are full you can apply to go on a waiting list for cancellations.
• Refunds are available at 100% up to 7-days before the event, after which the cost is non-refundable as we have commited to various operational costs.
• A booking charge is added to each ticket at the time of purchase. €250 + €19.11
• The Data Ceili code of conduct will be followed on the day. Please take the time to read it at https://www.dataceili.ie/code-of-conduct

Your data has exploded. You either cannot even import the amount of data anymore, if you can import it, it takes for ever and DirectQuery is super slow. Reports timeout and users are complaining. You're stuck with a problem that you're not sure how to solve.
But there are solutions for really big amounts of data.
Power BI and Microsoft Fabric offer multiple proven strategies to handle billions of rows efficiently. The challenge is knowing which approach to use and when.
What You'll Learn
This full-day training covers every major architectural pattern for extreme-scale data:
- Storage modes compared: Import, DirectQuery, and DirectLake and when to use each
- DirectLake in action: Combining Import speed with DirectQuery freshness
- KQL for performance: Lightning-fast queries on massive datasets
- Databricks Mirroring: Leveraging computational power while keeping Power BI reporting
- Aggregate tables done right: Pre-aggregation strategies that rescue struggling models
Through live demos with billion-row datasets, performance comparisons, and hands-on exercises, you'll build decision frameworks to architect the right solution for your scenarios.
Walk Out Ready
Leave with proven patterns, real-world strategies, and the confidence to handle massive data volumes in Power BI, no more compromising between speed and scale.

I am an enthusiastic Power BI user, Speaker, Power BI Super User, co-organizer of the Fabric User Group Switzerland and Microsoft MVP.
I work as Principal Consultant, trainer and mentor in the area of Business Intelligence in Switzerland.
I have been lucky enough to work with Power BI since its release in 2015 and gain experience in many interesting projects since the beginning. In my blog WhatTheFact.bi I write about everything related to Power BI, best practices, share tips and look forward to exchange with you!

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