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Data & Analytics · Advanced

Direct Lake

A Fabric storage mode in which semantic models load Delta Parquet column data directly from OneLake into memory on demand, without import refresh.

Definition

Direct Lake gives near-Import performance with near-real-time data. Columns are paged into memory as queries need them. When guardrails are exceeded or SQL features such as views or RLS on the SQL endpoint are needed, Direct Lake on SQL endpoints can fall back to DirectQuery.

Exam tip

Large Fabric lakehouse data with Import-like speed and no refresh = Direct Lake; know the DirectQuery fallback.

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