Compute system tables reference

This article provides you with an overview of the compute system tables, including the schemas and example queries. There are two cluster system tables available now: clusters and node_types.

Cluster table schema

The cluster table is a slow-changing dimension table that contains the full history of cluster configurations over time for all-purpose and jobs clusters.

The clusters system table is located at system.compute.clusters and has the following schema:

Node types table schema

The node type table captures the currently available node types with their basic hardware information. The node type system table is located at system.compute.node_types and has the following schema:

Known limitations

• Clusters that were marked deleted before October 23, 2023 do not appear in the clusters table. This might result in joins from the system.billing.usage table not matching cluster records in the clusters table. All active clusters have been backfilled.
• The clusters table only includes records for all-purpose and jobs clusters. It does not contain Delta Live Tables clusters or SQL warehouses.

Sample queries

You can use the following sample queries to answer common questions about clusters:

• Join cluster records with billable usage records
• Attribute costs for a cluster to the cluster owner

Join cluster records with the most recent billing records

This query can help you understand spending over time. Once you update the usage_start_time to the most current billing period, it grabs the most recent updates to the billing records to join into clusters data.

Each record is associated with the cluster owner during that particular run. So, if the cluster owner changes, costs will roll up to the correct owner based on when the cluster was used.

SELECT
  u.record_id,
  c.cluster_id,
  c.owned_by,
  c.change_time,
  u.usage_start_time,
  u.usage_quantity
FROM
  system.billing.usage u
  JOIN system.compute.clusters c
  JOIN (SELECT u.record_id, c.cluster_id, max(c.change_time) change_time
    FROM system.billing.usage u
    JOIN system.compute.clusters c
    WHERE
      u.usage_metadata.cluster_id is not null
      and u.usage_start_time >= '2023-01-01'
      and u.usage_metadata.cluster_id = c.cluster_id
      and date_trunc('HOUR', c.change_time) <= date_trunc('HOUR', u.usage_start_time)
    GROUP BY all) config
WHERE
  u.usage_metadata.cluster_id is not null
  and u.usage_start_time >= '2023-01-01'
  and u.usage_metadata.cluster_id = c.cluster_id
  and u.record_id = config.record_id
  and c.cluster_id = config.cluster_id
  and c.change_time = config.change_time
ORDER BY cluster_id, usage_start_time desc;

Attribute costs for a cluster to the cluster owner

If you are looking to reduce compute costs, you can use this query to find out which cluster owners in your account are using the most DBUs.

SELECT
  u.record_id record_id,
  c.cluster_id cluster_id,
  max_by(c.owned_by, c.change_time) owned_by,
  max(c.change_time) change_time,
  any_value(u.usage_start_time) usage_start_time,
  any_value(u.usage_quantity) usage_quantity
FROM
  system.billing.usage u
  JOIN system.compute.clusters c
WHERE
  u.usage_metadata.cluster_id is not null
  and u.usage_start_time >= '2023-01-01'
  and u.usage_metadata.cluster_id = c.cluster_id
  and c.change_time <= u.usage_start_time
GROUP BY 1, 2
ORDER BY cluster_id, usage_start_time desc;