Self managed ClickHouse Reference Architecture Integration

Objective: Rightsize ClickHouse for each GitLab reference architecture

Deliverables:

  • ClickHouse sizing specifications for each reference architecture (1k to 50k+ users)
  • Updated reference architecture diagrams including ClickHouse components
  • Network architecture and connectivity requirements
  • High availability and disaster recovery configurations per architecture size
  • Integration with GitLab Geo for multi-region deployments
  • Detailed cost analysis per reference architecture and deployment option
  • Break-even analysis and ROI projections
  • Cost comparison between deployment options (BYOC vs ClickHouse Cloud)
  • Budget planning guidance for different organization sizes

Early notes from our exercise with keeping a fixed 1000 GB storage for ClickHouse

ClickHouse Cloud

Pros:

  • Better price to performance ratio at low scale
  • No operational overhead
  • No need configure/optimize

Cons:

  • Managed by 3rd party
  • More expensive at large scale

Available Options:

  • ClickHouse Cloud Basic - 79$/month
    • 1TB Storage included
    • Best for testing and small deployments (1-3K Users)
  • ClickHouse Cloud Scale - ~700$/month
    • Unlimited Storage
    • Auto scaling compute
    • Best for production environments

Self Managed

Pros:

  • Best price to performance ratio at high scale
  • Full control over configuration
  • Predictable costs

Cons:

  • Requires operational expertise
  • Maintenance overhead
  • Storage costs separate

Example Scenarios

1K Users ($371/month total infrastructure)

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Basic ($79, 21.3%)
  • Avoid: All self-hosted options (>59% of infrastructure)

2K Users ($1,858/month total infrastructure)

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Basic ($79, 4.3%)
  • Alternative: AWS M8g.xlarge ($222, 11.9%)

3K Users ($4,560/month total infrastructure)

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Scale ($612-712, 13.4-15.6%)
  • Alternative: AWS M8g.2xlarge ($389, 8.5%) for production

5K+ Users ($6,256+ monthly infrastructure)

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Scale ($612-712, 2.7-3.1%)
  • Alternative: AWS M8g.4xlarge ($749, 12%)

10K+ Users

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Scale ($612-712, 2.7-3.1%)
  • Alternative: AWS M8g.4xlarge ($749, 6.2%)

25K+ Users ($22,650 monthly infrastructure)

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Scale ($612-712, 2.7-3.1%)
  • Alternative: AWS M8g.4xlarge HA (High perf) ($2,247, 9.9%)

50K+ Users ($39,539 monthly infrastructure)

  • Recommended: ClickHouse Cloud Scale ($612-712, 1.5-1.8%)
  • Alternative: AWS M8g.4xlarge HA (High perf) ($2,247, 5.7%)
Edited by Arun Sori