In a Fabric workspace containing a Power BI report, when access to a data source is restricted to narrow time windows, what is the recommended approach to bring data into a Power BI semantic model using dataflows?

• A. Create a staging dataflow that will only copy the data from the source as-is
• B. Use a direct query dataflow
• C. Use a dataflow with incremental load
• D. Use a dataflow that pre-aggregates data

Answer: (A)

When access to the data source is only available in narrow time windows, the goal is to decouple the report from real-time source availability and create a reliable, reusable copy for analysis. A staging dataflow that copies the data from the source as-is during those open windows delivers a complete snapshot that the Power BI semantic model can consume later without needing to reach the source again. This ensures the report has a stable dataset to query, even when the source is closed outside the allowed window, and supports repeatable, scheduled refreshes.

Direct query would require live access every time the report runs, which isn’t feasible if the source is restricted. A dataflow with incremental load still depends on the source during each load to detect new data, which can fail or be impractical under restricted access. A dataflow that pre-aggregates data might improve performance but sacrifices data granularity and flexibility, and it still relies on ingestion events during the allowed window.