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What is Vertipaq and how does it work? -Part 1
Part 1: Data compression
Vertipaq is the database and engine that runs on top of Power BI and PowerPivot.
When we import data in Power BI, the Vertipaq database will try with a series of algorithms, to compress the data as much as possible and the best way possible so it is easy and fast to query it with DAX.
Table of contents:
In this video, I will go through the main known things that Vertipaq does to compress the data. Here are the methods used, not necessary in that order:
1. Dictionary or Hash compression: It creates a dictionary for the columns stored as strings (text)
2. Value encoding: It will codify the columns stored as numbers to make them as small as possible
3. Run Length Encoding (RLE): Values that are the same in consecutive rows will be stored as a single data value and counted.
Watch the tutorial:
Recommended additional resources
I recommend you to also watch the vertipaq series to learn more about how DAX works behind the scenes:
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