Please help me understand billing, slots, and auto-scaling

[KenZw]

How can we turn off auto-scaling in BigQuery of slots (or other way to limit usage of slots to MAX 100).

We have run into a ridiculous situation in which from time to time our queries exceed 100  and then we are double billed for the whole month.  We are a startup and cannot afford such over-pays.

[ms4446]

BigQuery offers two pricing models:

• On-demand: You are billed for the amount of data processed by your queries and the number of slots that your queries use. The number of slots determines how fast your query runs, but it also affects the cost.
• Capacity-based (flat-rate pricing): You pay a fixed price for unlimited query processing within the capacity of the reserved slots.

Slots

A BigQuery slot is a virtual CPU that is used to execute SQL queries. The number of slots that a query requires depends on the size, complexity, and amount of data being processed.

Turning off auto-scaling in BigQuery

The primary way to control slot usage is through reservations.

To create a reservation with a maximum slot count of 100:

1. Go to the BigQuery console.
2. In the navigation pane, click Reservations.
3. Click Create Reservation.
4. Under Configure, select the location and edition for your reservation.
5. Under Capacity model, select Autoscaling (Edition).
6. In the Edition list, select the edition for your reservation.
7. Under Capacity, set the Maximum reservation size to 100.
8. Click Create.

Limiting usage of slots to MAX 100

The primary way to limit slot usage is through reservations.

Additional tips

• Monitor your usage and identify any areas where you can save money.
• Use a cost management tool to track and optimize your BigQuery costs.
• Even with flat-rate (capacity-based) pricing, it's important to monitor query performance and optimize queries to ensure efficient use of resources.