Matthew Hicks shows off the Data Lake Analytics AU Analyzer:
The AU Analyzer looks at all the vertices (or nodes) in your job, analyzes how long they ran and their dependencies, then models how long the job might run if a certain number of vertices could run at the same time. Each vertex may have to wait for input or for its spot in line to run. The AU Analyzer isn’t 100% accurate, but it provides general guidance to help you choose the right number of AUs for your job.
You’ll notice that there are diminishing returns when assigning more AUs, mainly because of input dependencies and the running times of the vertices themselves. So, a job with 10,000 total vertices likely won’t be able to use 10,000 AUs at once, since some will have to wait for input or for dependent vertices to complete.
In the graph below, here’s what the modeler might produce, when considering the different options. Notice that when the job is assigned 1427 AUs, assigning more won’t reduce the running time. 1427 is the “peak” number of AUs that can be assigned.
I like this kind of tooling, as it provides a realistic assessment of tradeoffs.