Microsoft Fabric Admin - What are Domains?

In a recent video from Pragmatic Works, Manuel Quintana provides a detailed breakdown of the new domains feature available in Microsoft Fabric and Power BI administration. Though still in preview, domains offer a powerful way to logically organize data for better management and control.

What Are Domains?

Domains in Microsoft Fabric and Power BI serve as a logical way to group data within an organization based on relevant departments or fields, such as Sales, Marketing, or Finance. This feature introduces an additional layer in the administrative hierarchy, alongside capacities and workspaces, to help better manage data organization.

Key Components of Domains

• Logical Grouping: Domains group related workspaces together under a common organizational label.
• Management Boundary: Domains create a management boundary between the tenant and workspace levels.
• Domain Admins: Domain admins can be assigned to manage multiple workspaces within a domain.

How Domains Fit into the Hierarchy

Traditionally, Power BI and Fabric administration involved managing tenants, capacities, and workspaces. Domains now sit alongside capacities, allowing workspaces to be assigned both to a domain and a capacity. This provides an additional layer of control and organization without disrupting the existing structure.

Current Domain Features and Limitations

While domains are still in their preview phase, they offer limited but valuable features:

• Certification Control: Domain admins can manage certification for datasets and semantic models.
• Subdomains: Domains support subdomains for further logical grouping, though settings for subdomains remain minimal.
• Transparency: Domains improve visibility within the OneLake Data Hub by allowing users to filter and sort data by domain.

How to Create and Manage Domains

1. Creating a Domain: A tenant admin can create a domain through the admin portal in Fabric.
2. Assigning Domain Admins: Admins can be assigned during domain creation or added later.
3. Configuring Permissions: Admins can assign workspaces, manage contributors, and control certification settings.
4. Default Domains: Users can be pre-assigned to specific domains based on their role or security group.

Delegation and Certification Control

Currently, domains support limited delegation features, primarily around certification control. Tenant admins can restrict certification at the organizational level while allowing domain admins to control it for specific domains. This feature enables more granular control over the endorsement and promotion of datasets.

Future Possibilities

While domains are a promising addition to the Fabric and Power BI ecosystem, Menw notes that the current feature set is limited. However, Microsoft has indicated that more delegation and control features are on the roadmap. Future enhancements may include expanded administrative settings and increased flexibility for workspace management.

Why Use Domains?

Adopting domains now can prepare organizations for the expanded capabilities expected in the future. Benefits include:

• Enhanced data organization.
• Improved workspace management.
• Granular control over certifications and access.

Domains provide an additional layer of control in Power BI and Fabric, allowing organizations to better structure their data environments and streamline administrative tasks. While still in preview, they are a promising feature for enterprises managing complex data environments.

Don't forget to check out the Pragmatic Works' on-demand learning platform for more insightful content and training sessions on Microsoft Fabric and other Microsoft applications. Be sure to subscribe to the Pragmatic Works YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the latest tips and tricks.