Solana News Today: Solana Developer Billed $5,000 for Single Google Cloud Query

A Solana developer recently faced an unexpected $5,000 charge for a single query on Google Cloud’s BigQuery, raising concerns within the blockchain community about the potential for unpredictable cloud service pricing models [1]. The incident has sparked widespread discussion among developers who rely on cloud infrastructure to process large data volumes, especially in high-throughput environments like Solana’s blockchain network. The charge, incurred during a routine data extraction, highlights the financial risks associated with using big data tools without careful monitoring [1].

The query involved Solana blockchain data, which is frequently processed in large batches due to the network’s high transaction throughput. Google Cloud’s BigQuery charges users based on the volume of data scanned, and in this case, the query inadvertently processed multiple terabytes of data. As a result, the developer was billed over $5,000 for a single operation. After raising the issue with Google support, the charge was reduced to $4,000 per query [1].

The developer warned others about the risks of using BigQuery without proper cost controls, describing the experience as a “big scam” and noting that similar situations could lead to unexpectedly high bills that might “bankrupt” developers [1]. Another developer shared a similar experience, being charged $5,000 for a query that unintentionally scanned large data partitions. This developer was able to secure a refund after escalating the issue through local Google support channels but emphasized the importance of checking data partitions before running queries [1].

Industry participants have criticized the lack of hard cost limits on the platform, with some claiming Google Cloud intentionally avoids allowing users to set spending caps. “Your Google Cloud function got stuck in a recursive loop costing you thousands? Too bad,” one developer noted, emphasizing the need for greater user control [1].

The incident also underscores the growing tension between the scalability demands of blockchain analytics and the financial feasibility of performing such tasks. As blockchain data grows in volume, the cost of accessing and processing it through third-party services could become prohibitive for smaller teams or independent developers who lack the infrastructure to manage these costs effectively [1].

Calls for cost-optimization strategies have emerged, including data sampling, query partitioning, and caching. Some have also suggested that cloud providers introduce tiered pricing models specifically tailored to blockchain data processing to reduce such surprises [1].

Source:

[1] Solana devs billed $5K for single query via Google Cloud’s BigQuery (https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-dev-billed-5k-query-google-cloud-bigquery)