topic Re: Lakebase Scale-to-Zero Behavior: Automatic or Application-Controlled? in Lakebase Discussions

Lakebase Scale-to-Zero Behavior: Automatic or Application-Controlled?

mrp — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 06:39:29 GMT

Hi all,

Lakebase is currently advertised as a database system that can scale down to zero:
https://www.databricks.com/blog/what-is-a-lakebase

Does anyone know if this scale-to-zero behavior is handled automatically by Databricks when the database is idle, or does it require explicit handling from the application layer?

Re: Lakebase Scale-to-Zero Behavior: Automatic or Application-Controlled?

gjsau — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 00:03:11 GMT

My experience is absolutely no it does not auto-stop or auto-pause.

Someone from Databricks Sales really should clarify this, because the information in the link above implies that the scaling is automatic. This expectation of "scaling to zero leaving only the storage cost" has led to unexpected expense. My instance consumes at least 1 DBU per hour depending on the minimum size setting, and the only control that seems to prevent this is to manually "Stop" the instance.

I'm happy to be proven wrong here.

Re: Lakebase Scale-to-Zero Behavior: Automatic or Application-Controlled?

ilorus — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 08:13:38 GMT

I think that it's a feature they will add eventually, but it's not actually available now.

I've had a Lakebase active for a month, unused for about half the time, and it use 24 DBUs per day pretty much constantly.

Re: Lakebase Scale-to-Zero Behavior: Automatic or Application-Controlled?

Louis_Frolio — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 17:20:54 GMT

Hey @mrp ,
Some features of Lakebase are still in public preview, so not all functionality is available yet. @ilorus is correct that “scale to zero” is not currently part of the product. However, it is on the roadmap and should be available early next year.

Hope this helps.

Louis