Understanding the basics of data modeling

In Chapter 5, Importing Data into Power BI, you were introduced to some key topics when it comes to importing data, such as dimension modeling, star schemas, and normalization/denormalization. This chapter will build upon this with further knowledge of the basics, introducing concepts such as bidirectional cross-filtering, cardinality, and other best practices.

Here is a summary of some of the basics to consider in this space. To highlight them, this section provides high-level descriptions along with some high-level examples.

Importing versus DirectQuery

In Power BI, we have two main methods of bringing data into our model: importing data and using DirectQuery. Let’s have a brief overview of each to help get you up to speed on the difference between them.

Importing

Importing refers to the method of loading and storing data within a Power BI file itself. When you import data, Power BI brings a copy of the data into its...