Which Timestream query pricing model provides better scaling?

The Timestream Compute Units (TCUs) pricing model offers better scaling and reduces throttling compared to the bytes scanned model, especially for on-demand scaling scenarios.

TCUs provide a more flexible and scalable approach to query pricing. With TCUs, you can leverage pay-per-use pricing while having the ability to control the number of compute units used by your queries. This allows for better cost control and adherence to budgets.

The TCU model allows queries to execute concurrently, which enables cost-effective scaling of workloads without the per-query minimum bytes metered that existed in the previous model. This is particularly beneficial for on-demand scaling scenarios where query volume and complexity may vary.

Additionally, the TCU model removes the minimum bytes metered per query, which was a limitation in the bytes scanned model. This change addresses issues where queries scanning only a few kilobytes of data could be disproportionately expensive.

With TCUs, the service can automatically scale compute resources based on query demand, allocating more units when needed and scaling down when no queries are being processed. This dynamic allocation helps optimize resource usage and minimize costs while reducing the likelihood of throttling.

Users can also configure a maximum number of TCUs (MaxQueryTCU) for their account per AWS Region, which acts as a ceiling for compute capacity scaling. This feature helps control costs and allows for more predictable query performance, further reducing the chances of throttling due to unexpected spikes in query volume or complexity.

Overall, the TCU-based pricing model provides better on-demand scaling capabilities and is more likely to reduce throttling compared to the bytes scanned model, making it a more efficient choice for managing query workloads in Timestream.

[+] Understanding and optimizing Amazon Timestream Compute Units for efficient time series data management | AWS Database Blog - https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/understanding-and-optimizing-amazon-timestream-compute-units-for-efficient-time-series-data-management/

[+] Announcing Timestream Compute Unit (TCU) for Amazon Timestream for LiveAnalytics - https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2024/04/tcu-amazon-timestream-liveanalytics/

[+] Timestream Compute Unit (TCU) - Amazon Timestream https://docs.aws.amazon.com/timestream/latest/developerguide/tcu.html