SharePoint Lists server backend database

Question

Hello all,

I am looking for the back end databases, where data from our Sharepoint lists are stored. More specifically, I would like to know how to access them and how to provide permission to our Power BI analytic team

Thank you

Answer 1

Hi Rasmus,

Thanks for posting back.

After searching, some members mentioned exporting the SharePoint lists into a CSV file and then using Power BI to get data will save the time. Please check if the following threads help.

Power BI - Get Data From SharePoint List / Library

SharePoint Online slow refresh

Also, if you have more concerns about how to improve getting data from SharePoint list, since we have a specific channel Microsoft Power BI Community coping with such Power BI questions, I would like to suggest you post a new thread there for expert help.

Sorry for that our category may have limited resources on checking on the issue further.

Thanks for your understanding.

George

Answer 2

Hi Rasmus,

Thanks for posting in the community.

For your concern, the data from your SharePoint lists are stored in SharePoint. Since organizations use Microsoft SharePoint to create websites, it is a secure place to store information.

For your reference: What is SharePoint?

If you want your Power BI analytic team can access the data, they must have permission to access the SharePoint site or the SharePoint list. The site owner or admin can give the site/list permission to them.

For your references:

SharePoint site permissions

Sharing and permissions in the SharePoint modern experience

Customize permissions for a SharePoint list or library

If you have any updates, please feel free and come back to share with us.

Regards,

George

Answer 3

Thank you so much for the reply!

But it was my understanding, that when i enter data in a Sharepoint list, the same data gets stored in an underlaying Azure or SQL database. Our situation is, that our datasets are getting too big for sharepoint list to be able to handle, and the refresh time for our Power BI Dashboards are getting too long. For this reasion, our PowerBI expert suggested, that we access the data directly from the backend instead of the list itself.

I'm pretty sure this was possible in the old SharePoint 2003, but maybe this is not possible in modern version?

But again, thansk for the reply :)