DirectQuery in Analysis Services: Best practices, performance, use cases

DirectQuery is a feature of Analysis Services that transforms a Tabular model in a semantic layer on top of a relational database, transforming any MDX or DAX query in a real-time request to the underlying relational engine using the SQL language. This feature has been improved and optimized in the latest versions, including Azure Analysis Services, extending the support to relational databases other than SQL Server, and dramatically improving its performance. Learn what are the features of DirectQuery, how to implement best practices in order to obtain the best results, and what are typical use cases where DirectQuery should be considered as an alternative to the in-memory engine embedded in Analysis Services.