Serverless - DynamoDB

Question 1

What type of database is DynamoDB?

Answer 1

DynamoDB is a fully managed, highly available, NoSQL database that supports transactional operations.

Question 2

What are key characteristics of DynamoDB?

Answer 2

Cloud-native, distributed architecture
Single-digit millisecond performance
Data replication across multiple AZs
Infinite scalability for millions of requests per second

Question 3

When should you choose On-Demand Mode over Provisioned Mode for DynamoDB?

Answer 3

Unpredictable workloads with sudden spikes.
Low-usage workloads, e.g., a few transactions per day.

Question 4

When is DynamoDB a better choice than RDS or Aurora?

Answer 4

When the schema evolves rapidly or the application requires high scalability and low latency.

Question 5

What is DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX)?

Answer 5

DAX is a fully-managed, in-memory cache for DynamoDB, providing microsecond latency for cached data.

Question 6

What is DynamoDB Streams?

Answer 6

DynamoDB Streams provides a log of create, update, and delete operations on a table, retained for 24 hours. It integrates well with Lambda for triggers.

Question 7

When should you use Kinesis Data Streams over DynamoDB Streams?

Answer 7

Use Kinesis Data Streams for:

Up to 1-year retention
Higher consumer limits
Advanced processing (e.g., with Firehose, Analytics, or Glue ETL).