Licensing is always an important topic for any technology, often it can drive architectural decisions. In many cases, licensing models can be difficult to understand, particularly since vendors tend to not like to dwell on discussions of cost. My last post on Fabric licensing was an attempt to help to clarify some of the “squishy” language around licensing for the recently introduced Microsoft Fabric.
That recent post centers on the cost for Fabric compute, but there is another licensing component to Fabric – for storage. With the GA of Fabric last week at Microsoft Ignite, the time is approaching that customers will be charged for storage, so it’s equally important to understand how that works as well. This recently became obvious to me as I was a participant in an online discussion with MVPs and product team members about this very topic, and if we’re not clear, chances are that another clarification post is required.
This discussion was started by Tristan Malherbe (@Datatouille), and he did most of the clarifying work – I am just posting here for accessibility. Thanks Tristan!
As mentioned above, there are two components to Fabric costs, the cost for compute, and the cost for data storage. The cost for compute is a function of the capacities that are used (Microsoft Fabric – Pricing | Microsoft Azure). Due to the way Fabric stores data, that cost is quite cheap, especially compared to the cost of storing data in transactional database systems (ie Azure SQL). It is in line with general blob storage in an Azure storage account at a list price of approximately $0.025/GB/month. Simple enough, right?
This storage price is true for all Fabric artifact that store data, with one exception. Power BI artifacts are exempt from additional storage costs up to 100 TB of storage per capacity. Any storage beyond that amount is subject to the ~$0.025/GB/month charge. The question therefore is, what, exactly is a Power BI artifact?
Qualifying Power BI artifacts are:
semantic models (datasets)
reports
dashboards
dataflows (Gen1)
datamarts
paginated reports.
It should be noted however that when the recently introduced OneLake integration for import-mode semantic models is used the data cache is stored OneLake, NOT in the semantic model itself. It is therefore subject to the Fabric storage pricing, but it will not count against your 100 TB storage quota for Power BI storage.
In summary,
ALL Fabric SKUs include 100 TB storage for Power BI artifacts
A Power BI artifact is any of the following items: datasets, reports, dashboards, dataflows (Gen1), datamarts, paginated reports
Any other Fabric artifacts (lakehouse, warehouse etc.) are charged ~ $0.025/GB/month for storage
Semantic models using the “OneLake integration for Import-mode semantic models” are charged ~ $0.025/GB/month for storage
Shortly after Premium capacities were announced for Power BI, I published a post titled Understanding the Power BI Capacity Based SKUs to help the Power BI community understand how this new license model worked. With the recent announcement of Microsoft Fabric, that model got a little more complex. Admittedly, it’s not the same radical departure that Power BI Premium was initially – in fact, it’s based on the same model, but there are several nuances that are worth understanding.
For those familiar with Power BI user and capacity licenses, the easiest way to understand the differences brought by Microsoft Fabric is to think of all of the new Fabric features as new Premium features in Power BI. Fabric also introduces a new type of capacity, the F sku in addition to (for the moment at least) the P and A skus currently available to Power BI. For those less familiar, and for more detail, a more comprehensive discussion is warranted.
User vs Capacity based licenses
Power BI has two different licensing models, user based, and capacity based. Power BI is a component of Fabric, but all other Fabric assets use only capacity-based licensing. Therefore, within the context of Fabric, the Power BI license only pertains to Power BI assets. There are three user-based licenses for Power BI: Free, Pro, and Premium per user. A user’s license determines which workspaces that the user can access.
A workspace contains assets created by users and provides a logical security boundary. Workspaces are also bound to a capacity, and that binding determines which capacity is used when these assets are utilized.
A capacity is a collection of resources that are consumed when various assets are utilized. For example, when a user renders a report, or a dataset refresh is run, resources are consumed from the workspace’s underlying capacity. There are several capacity types and sizes, and the type of capacity determines the capabilities that are available to the workspace.
Capacity Types
There are five capacity types commonly in use with workspaces today. These are:
Shared (or Pro)
Premium per User
Premium A sku
Premium P sku
Fabric F sku
Shared capacities (also referred to as Pro capacities) are the default capacity that any new Power BI workspace is backed by. Shared capacities are for Power BI only and are provided by Microsoft at no extra cost. Shared capacities do not provide Premium or Fabric features and impose certain operating limits. To access a workspace that is backed by a shared capacity, a user must have a Power BI Pro license.
Premium per User capacities are available to users that have a Premium per User license. PPU capacities are for Power BI only, are provided by Microsoft at no extra cost and they do provide most Premium, but not Fabric features. To access a workspace that is backed by a Premium per User capacity, a user must have a Power BI Premium per user license.
All other capacity types are purchased for the tenant by an organization. There is a wide variety of options to choose from. To utilize Fabric features, the capacity must be either a P or an F sku. P skus have been with us since Premium was initially introduced, and F skus have been introduced with Fabric. Functionally there is no difference between the two, apart from how they are purchased, which is covered below. A complete summary of capacity features and resources can be seen below.
Capacity Features
Feature
Shared
Premium A
PPU
Premium P
Fabric F
Dataset size limit
1 GB
3-400 GB
100 GB
25-400 GB
1-800 GB
Refreshes per day
8
48*
48*
48*
48**
XMLA Endpoint
Read
Read/write
Read/write
Read/write
Read/write
Dataflows
Basic
Enhanced
Enhanced
Gen 2
Gen 2
Automatic Page Refresh
.5 hr min
1s min / change detect
1s min / change detect
1s min / change detect
1s min / change detect
Deployment Pipelines
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Datamarts
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Hybrid Tables
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Metrics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
AI Capabilities (Auto ML, CS)
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Automatic Aggregations
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Multi-geo support
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Other Fabric assets
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
* Limited by the UI. Unlimited refreshes available programmatically ** Limited by the UI. Unlimited refreshes available programmatically. Direct Lake mode datasets will not require refresh.
Capacity Resources by sku
Premium A
Premium P
Fabric F
Capacity Units (CU)
V-Cores
Max Dataset size (GB)
F2
2
0.25
1
F4
4
0.5
2
A1
F8
8
1
3
A2
F16
16
2
5
A3
F32
32
4
10
A4
P1
F64
64
8
25
A5
P2
F128
128
16
50
A6
P3
F256
256
32
100
A7
P4
F512
512
64
200
A8
P5
F1024
1024
128
400
F2048
2048
256
400
As you can see in the above chart, the A4. P1, and F64 skus all have the same resource level. Therefore, an organization could purchase an F64 capacity, disable Fabric features, and have exactly the same experience as with the P1 sku. The only difference between them is the way that they are acquired, which is discussed below.
User Access
In addition to features and resources, the capacity that backs a workspace also determines the user license that is required to consume Power BI resources contained within it. It is worth noting here that no matter what capacity backs a workspace, a Power BI Pro license is required to publish reports to it.
The license requirements for the various capacity types can be seen in the table below. Again, this pertains to Power BI artifacts only – all other Fabric artifacts require a P or F capacity and can be accessed by users without a Power BI license.
Workspace access by Power BI License
Client license
Personal
Shared
Premium A SKU
Premium Per User
Premium P SKU
Fabric
Free
✔
X
✔
X
✔
✔*
Power BI Pro
✔
✔
✔
X
✔
✔
Premium per user
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
*Fabric capacity must be F64 or above for access with a free license. Below F64 requires Power BI Pro.
License Acquisition
User licenses are relatively straightforward. Free licenses are available to any Azure Active Directory account. Power BI Pro licenses are part of Microsoft 365 E5 licenses, and can also be purchased separately from the Microsoft 365 store. Premium per User licenses include Power BI Pro, and can also be purchased separately, or as an add-on to an existing Pro license from the Microsoft 365 store.
Capacity acquisition is significantly more complicated. Indeed, the way that they are acquired can often play a role in selecting the appropriate capacity type for a given scenario.
The Premium P sku is purchased from the Microsoft Office store, and it requires an annual commitment. That is enough to make many smaller organizations pause before trying it out. The Premium A sku is purchased from Azure, can be turned on and off, and is billed hourly. It also has a significantly lower entry point. The A1 sku has only 1/8 the resources of a P1 sku, and is significantly cheaper to get started with. If Power BI features are the only thing of interest, thne the A sku presents a compelling choice, but it does not support Fabric features.
The new Fabric skus appear to bridge the gap between the P and A skus. Fabric skus are available in a much wider variety of resource levels (F2 to F2048) which makes them approachable for organizations that want to get started or have less demanding requirements. They can be scaled up past the maximum currently available in P5. Finally, they are purchased from Microsoft Azure and do not require an annual commitment (using pay-as-you-go). Pricing was recently announced and can be found at the Microsoft Fabric blog here – Announcing Microsoft Fabric capacities are available for purchase.
As mentioned above, a P1 is functionally equivalent to an F64. However, the price of an F64 in the blog post is approximately 40% higher than that of a P1. This is because the P1 requires an annual commitment and is effectively discounted by that very same 40%. The Fabric skus will also have an option to opt in for an annual commitment, and to then enjoy a significant discount, presumably making the cost of the P1 and the F64 equivalent. The details of this have not yet been announced, so your mileage may vary.
Trial Licenses
In order to “try before you buy”, a 60-day trial license is available. Details of the trial can be found here – Fabric (preview) trial. The trial will grant the requesting user a Premium-per-user license along with an F64 capacity. It’s a preview of all Power BI capabilities, and the capacity allows for the testing of all Fabric capabilities.
One word of warning with trials. If a user with a free license accesses Power BI assets that they have right to, but are unlicensed for, a free trial will automatically be granted, and the clock will start ticking on a 60-day trial. This grants the user not only a Premium per User license, but also a Fabric capacity. This does provide a seamless experience for the user but may come as a shock when the 60-day period is up.
Conclusion
While the existing Power BI Premium skus will continue to exist for those that want them, the Fabric skus are clearly the way forward. They provide all the same features as the legacy capacities, with increased sizing options on both the lower and higher end of resource requirements. The option to pay as you go or to take a commitment means that they can be both approachable and cost-effective, Finally, if all you need is Power BI features, you can turn off Fabric, and still enjoy these flexibility benefits.
