Learn about how compute usage is measured using capacity unit hours (CUH) consumed by an active environment runtime in watsonx.ai Studio. watsonx.ai Studio plans govern how you are billed monthly for the resources you consume.
Capacity units included in each plan per month
Feature
Lite
Professional
Standard (legacy)
Enterprise (legacy)
Processing usage
10 CUH per month
Unlimited CUH billed for usage per month
10 CUH per month + pay for more
5000 CUH per month + pay for more
Capacity units included in each plan per month
Feature
Lite
Professional
Processing usage
10 CUH per month
Unlimited CUH billed for usage per month
Capacity units per hour for notebooks
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Notebooks
Capacity type
Language
Capacity units per hour
1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM
Python R
0.5
2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM
Python R
1
4 vCPU and 16 GB RAM
Python R
2
8 vCPU and 32 GB RAM
Python R
4
16 vCPU and 64 GB RAM
Python R
8
Driver: 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM; 1 Executor: 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM
Spark with Python Spark with R
1 CUH per additional executor is 0.5
Driver: 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM; 1 Executor: 2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM
Spark with Python Spark with R
1.5 CUH per additional executor is 1
Driver: 2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM; 1 Executor: 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM;
Spark with Python Spark with R
1.5 CUH per additional executor is 0.5
Driver: 2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM; 1 Executor: 2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM;
Spark with Python Spark with R
2 CUH per additional executor is 1
Driver: 3 vCPU and 12 GB RAM; 1 Executor: 3 vCPU and 12 GB RAM;
Spark with Python Spark with R
2 CUH per additional executor is 1
The rate of capacity units per hour consumed is determined for:
Default Python or R environments by the hardware size and the number of users in a project using one or more runtimes
For example: The IBM Runtime 24.1 on Python 3.10 XS with 2 vCPUs will consume 1 CUH if it runs for one hour. If you have a project with 7 users working on notebooks 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, all using the IBM Runtime 24.1 on Python 3.10 XS environment, and everyone shuts down their runtimes when they leave in the evening, runtime consumption is 5 x 7 x 8 = 280 CUH per week.
The CUH calculation becomes more complex when different environments are used to run notebooks in the same project and if users have multiple active runtimes, all consuming their own CUHs. Additionally, there might be notebooks, which are
scheduled to run during off-hours, and long-running jobs, likewise consuming CUHs.
Default Spark environments by the hardware configuration size of the driver, and the number of executors and their size.
Capacity units per hour for notebooks with Decision Optimization
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The rate of capacity units per hour consumed is determined by the hardware size and the price for Decision Optimization.
Decision Optimization notebooks
Capacity type
Language
Capacity units per hour
1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM
Python + Decision Optimization
0.5 + 5 = 5.5
2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM
Python + Decision Optimization
1 + 5 = 6
4 vCPU and 16 GB RAM
Python + Decision Optimization
2 + 5 = 7
8 vCPU and 32 GB RAM
Python + Decision Optimization
4 + 5 = 9
16 vCPU and 64 GB RAM
Python + Decision Optimization
8 + 5 = 13
Capacity units per hour for notebooks with Watson Natural Language Processing
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The rate of capacity units per hour consumed is determined by the hardware size and the price for Watson Natural Language Processing.
Watson Natural Language Processing notebooks
Capacity type
Language
Capacity units per hour
1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM
Python + Watson Natural Language Processing
0.5 + 5 = 5.5
2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM
Python + Watson Natural Language Processing
1 + 5 = 6
4 vCPU and 16 GB RAM
Python + Watson Natural Language Processing
2 + 5 = 7
8 vCPU and 32 GB RAM
Python + Watson Natural Language Processing
4 + 5 = 9
16 vCPU and 64 GB RAM
Python + Watson Natural Language Processing
8 + 5 = 13
Capacity units per hour for Synthetic Data Generator
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Capacity type
Capacity units per hour
2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM
7
Capacity units per hour for SPSS Modeler flows
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SPSS Modeler flows
Name
Capacity type
Capacity units per hour
Default SPSS Modeler S
2 vCPU and 8 GB RAM
1
Default SPSS Modeler M
4 vCPU and 16 GB RAM
2
Default SPSS Modeler L
6 vCPU and 24 GB RAM
3
Capacity units per hour for Data Refinery and Data Refinery flows
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Data Refinery and Data Refinery flows
Name
Capacity type
Capacity units per hour
Default Data Refinery XS runtime
3 vCPU and 12 GB RAM
1.5
Default Spark 3.4 & R 4.2
2 Executors each: 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM; Driver: 1 vCPU and 4 GB RAM
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