dataMinds News Round up –
March 2025
Author: Reza Rad
Reza Rad addresses a common question among Power BI developers: What are the benefits of Microsoft Fabric, and how can it enhance existing Power BI implementations? He explores Fabric’s key components, such as Dataflow Gen2, Data Pipelines, Lakehouse, Warehouse, Shortcuts, and DirectLake, and explains how these features resolve common Power BI limitations—from data refresh orchestration to optimizing performance without unnecessary data duplication. If you’re a Power BI developer looking to elevate your analytics workflow, this guide provides a practical starting point to leverage Fabric effectively.
Author: Kenneth A. Omorodion
Managing large-scale partitioned Delta tables in Microsoft Fabric requires efficient data maintenance to prevent storage bloating. Kenneth A. Omorodion explains how the VACUUM operation helps by removing obsolete data files, optimizing performance, and reducing costs. He details how Delta Lake’s transaction log (_delta_log) tracks stale files and how automating VACUUM can streamline storage management. This article also provides best practices for running VACUUM efficiently while preserving the integrity of partitioned tables. Learn how to enhance your Delta table performance with this essential Fabric feature.
Author: Marc Lelijveld
Managing Microsoft Fabric workspaces can quickly become overwhelming due to the variety of items available, from data pipelines to semantic models. Marc introduces a structured naming convention that helps users organize and locate Fabric assets efficiently, regardless of folder structures or taskflows. By defining clear abbreviations for item types (e.g., DP for Data Pipelines, LH for Lakehouses) and categorizing their purpose (e.g., INGST for ingestion, TRNSF for transformation), this approach ensures a consistent and scalable workspace. Learn how adopting a structured naming convention can enhance governance and clarity in your Fabric environment.
Author: Chris Webb
Chris Webb explores an alternative method to analyze partition refresh parallelism in Import Mode semantic models, leveraging KQL and Fabric Workspace Monitoring. Inspired by Phil Seamark’s “visualise your refresh” approach, Chris presents a KQL query that tracks the number of partitions being refreshed in parallel at any given second. By transforming refresh events into line and stacked bar charts, this method provides a detailed, real-time view of partition refresh behavior. Discover how this technique can enhance performance monitoring and help optimize refresh efficiency in Power BI.
Author: John Miner
John Miner explores best practices for developing SQL schemas in Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse, emphasizing the importance of source control and deployment pipelines. He compares Fabric Notebooks vs. Warehouse Queries, demonstrating how T-SQL notebooks streamline schema creation and documentation. Additionally, he highlights how Azure DevOps and GitHub enable version control and CI/CD pipelines facilitate seamless deployments. This guide provides a structured approach for Power BI developers and data engineers to build scalable solutions in Fabric while maintaining code integrity and automation.
Author: Glenn Alan Berry
Glenn Berry presents his updated SQL Server Diagnostic Information Queries for February 2025. These queries offer a comprehensive view of your SQL Server instance’s configuration and performance, aiding in efficient diagnostics and troubleshooting. Regularly updated, they reflect the latest insights and best practices for SQL Server management. Explore these queries to enhance your server monitoring and optimization efforts.
Author: Brent Ozar
Brent Ozar shares the latest SQL ConstantCare® Population Report for Winter 2025, providing insights into SQL Server version adoption rates. The report highlights a significant increase in SQL Server 2022 adoption, now at 21%, up from 13% last quarter, while SQL Server 2019 remains dominant with 44% market share. These trends offer valuable information for organizations planning upgrades or migrations. Dive into the report to understand the current landscape of SQL Server usage.
