Planning your Power BI Report Server infrastructure? Getting the right hardware is crucial for performance, and this tool makes it easy. Use this capacity planner to get a data-driven estimate for the server nodes, CPU cores, and memory required to support your users. Simply enter your expected workload, user numbers, and peak concurrency below to get an instant hardware recommendation based on Microsoft’s official load-testing results. Power BI Report Server Capacity Planner

Power BI Report Server Capacity Planner

Based on Microsoft’s published load tests Assumes typical 5% peak concurrency (editable)

Inputs

Workload profile

Power BI Report Heavy Paginated (RDL) Heavy

Pick the pattern that best matches your usage mix.

Hardware per PBIRS node

Small — 8 vCPU / 32 GB Large — 16 vCPU / 64 GB

These match the test rigs used in Microsoft’s whitepaper.

Total named users

If unknown, leave blank and enter concurrent users instead.

Peak concurrency (%)

Microsoft observed ~5% of users active at peak.

Expected concurrent users (peak)

Overrides the derived value if provided.

Scale‑out efficiency (%)

Real‑world cluster efficiency. 85–95% is typical.

Reference per‑node capacity

Baseline

—

After efficiency

—

Concurrent users a single node can handle based on Microsoft's load tests.

Recommendation

Required concurrent users

—

Recommended PBIRS nodes

—

Est. total users supported

—

Total CPU Cores

—

Total Memory

—

Disk Recommendation

Fast Storage (SSD)

Reference Data

Workload	Small node 8 vCPU / 32 GB	Large node 16 vCPU / 64 GB
Power BI Report Heavy	50 concurrent	150 concurrent
Paginated (RDL) Heavy	100 concurrent	160 concurrent

Derived from Microsoft load‑test results. See notes for links.

Notes & Next Steps

CPU was the most constrained resource in Microsoft's tests; prioritize cores.
For higher confidence, validate with your own reports using the open‑source RSLoad tests.

Links (open in new tab):
Microsoft: PBIRS capacity planning
GitHub: Reporting‑Services‑LoadTest

Assumptions & disclaimer. Results are estimates using Microsoft’s published tests on specific hardware and representative workloads. Your mileage will vary with data sources, report complexity, caching, network, and security settings. Validate with pilot tests before committing hardware.

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