FAQs

What is a DBU?

A Databricks Unit (“DBU”) is a unit of processing capability per hour, billed on per-second usage. Databricks supports many AWS EC2 instance types. The larger the instance is, the more DBUs you will be consuming on an hourly basis. For example, 1 DBU is the equivalent of Databricks running on a c4.2xlarge machine for an hour. See the full list of supported instances and details.

What is the difference between Automated Clusters and Interactive Clusters?

Automated workloads are workloads running on automated clusters. Automated clusters are clusters that are both started and terminated by the same Job.Only one job can be run on an automated cluster for isolation purposes.

Interactive workloads are workloads running on interactive clusters. Interactive clusters are clusters that are not classified as automated clusters. They can be used for various purposes such as running commands within Databricks notebooks, connecting via JDBC/ODBC for BI workloads, running MLflow experiments on Databricks. Multiple users can share an interactive cluster for doing interactive analysis in a collaborative way.

There are two cluster options for production jobs – Data Engineering Light and Data Engineering. How do I decide which one to use?

Data Engineering Light is Databricks’ equivalent of open source Apache Spark. It targets simple, non-critical workloads that don’t need the performance, reliability, or autoscaling benefits provided by Databricks’ proprietary technologies. In comparison, the Data Engineering cluster provides you with all of the aforementioned benefits to boost your team productivity and reduce your total cost of ownership.

What’s the difference between production and interactive analysis workloads?

Production workloads (automated workloads) are defined as jobs that both start and terminate the clusters on which they run. For example, a workload may be triggered by the Databricks Job Scheduler which launches a new Apache Spark cluster solely for the job and automatically terminates the cluster after the job is complete.

Interactive analysis workloads are workloads that are not automated workloads, e.g., running a command within Databricks notebooks. These commands run on Apache Spark clusters that may persist until manually terminated. Multiple users can share a cluster for doing interactive analysis in a collaborative way.

Databricks Operational Security add-on package has an additional charge for DBU usage. Does it apply to all workload types?

Yes, Databricks Operational Security applies to all types of clusters offered. When you choose to deploy Databricks with Databricks Operational Security, an additional charge of $0.15 per DBU will be applied on top of the cluster price. Please contact us for details.

What does the free trial include?

The 14-day free trial gives you access to all Databricks features except the Databricks Operational Security Package and Custom Deployment options. Contact us if you are interested in Databricks Operational Security and / or Custom Deployment options.

Note that during trial, AWS will bill you directly for the EC2 instances created in Databricks.

What happens after the free trial?

At the end of the trial, you are automatically subscribed to Databricks without Databricks Enterprise Security. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

What is Databricks Community Edition?

Databricks Community Edition is a free, limited functionality platform designed for anyone who wants to learn Spark. Sign up here.

How will I be billed?

By default, you will be billed monthly based on per-second usage on your credit card. Contact us for more billing options, such as billing by invoice or an annual plan.

Do you provide technical support?

We offer technical support with annual commitments. Contact us to learn more or get started.