The first configuration setting when installing a gateway is the mode of the gateway, as depicted in the following image:
The default and recommended gateway mode (commonly referred to as the enterprise mode) provides all the functionality of the personal mode plus many more features and management capabilities. These additional benefits include support for DirectQuery and Live connection datasets, several other Azure services, such as MS Flow, and the management capabilities described in the Managing gateway clusters section later in this chapter.
A single personal mode gateway can be installed per Power BI user account and can only be used for the on-demand or scheduled refresh of the import mode Power BI datasets. Most importantly, the personal mode gateway is completely tied to the individual user and cannot be shared. For example, if the gateway is installed in the personal mode on a user's laptop, that laptop will need to be on and connected to the internet to support any scheduled data refreshes. Additionally, unlike the administrators of the On-premises data gateway, a personal mode user cannot authorize other users to leverage the personal mode gateway and its configured data sources.
In the following image, both a personal mode gateway and a standard On-premises data gateway are available to refresh a dataset:
In the preceding example, if the user was not authorized to use the On-premises data gateway (Frontline Gateway), the personal mode gateway could be used to complete the refresh. This assumes the user has the necessary privileges to the on-premises data sources of the import mode dataset.
The personal mode gateway is not intended for large datasets or datasets supporting reports and dashboards that many users depend on. The personal mode gateways should only be considered for enabling individual business users to work on personal or proof-of-concept projects. For example, the business user may have several Excel workbooks and other frequently changing local files that are not configured as data sources on an On-premises data gateway. If the user has been assigned a Power BI Pro license, the personal mode gateway allows the user to keep Power BI reports and dashboards based on these sources updated for review by colleagues. In the event that the user's content requires reliable, longer-term support, the BI/IT organization can add the data sources to an On-premises gateway (enterprise mode) and revise removing the dependency on the user's machine.
All the remaining sections of this chapter are exclusively focused on the On-premises data gateway (that is, the enterprise mode). Although there are overlapping characteristics with the personal mode, any reference to the On-premises data gateway in this chapter and elsewhere in this book refers to the default mode (enterprise).