AWS Knowledge
Understanding Amazon DynamoDB Pricing and Costs
Piyush Kalra
Nov 13, 2024
Amazon DynamoDB is one of the most preferred tools in the modern age. It makes application development easy, reliable, and quick. It operates as a NoSQL and fully managed service, enabling apps within e-commerce, gaming, and IoT, among other industries, with extremely low latencies of about a few milliseconds.
However, let’s face it, for early-stage companies, developers, and anyone interested in the cloud, understanding the pricing of the Amazon DynamoDB can be very challenging. it’s local to the use of the system and the rate plan selected. Miscalculating these pricing models could lead to high costs placed on your AWS account in the long run.
Don’t sweat it—in this blog, we will explain DynamoDB pricing better, how to cut costs when optimizing DynamoDB for an application, and how to spend smarter while remaining within my budget.
What is Amazon DynamoDB?
(Image Source: Amazon DynamoDB)
Amazon DynamoDB tries to be the middleman between the resources provided and the end product being used. In this case, it is a fully functioning NoSQL database that can function at a high volume, allowing it to handle many requests at a singular time. The biggest advantage is that the developers do not have to worry about managing the infrastructure.
Key Features of Amazon DynamoDB
Scalability: No matter what the demand mode is, will there be provision and management resources accordingly.
Serverless Architecture: The requirement for server provisioning is removed completely.
High Performance: Delivers response times of a single digit in milliseconds, even with large datasets.
Data Durability: Redundantly stores your data across multiple AWS availability zones.
Security: Protect data using encryption both when at rest and in transit.
Built-in Features: This has inbuilt backup streams for different volumes that track real-time changes and can be linked with other AWS services.
Common Use Cases
eCommerce Platforms: Maintenance of product catalogs and shopping carts of millions of users.
Mobile Applications: An update of the user profile as well as the state of the game in real-time.
IoT Applications: Gathering and interpreting large-scale telemetry data from connected devices.
Content Management Systems: Store ease metadata for online web pages or media libraries.
How Does Amazon DynamoDB Work?
To fully understand its pricing, it's important to know the architecture of DynamoDB.
Key Architectural Components
Tables: Data is primarily stored in these containers and are similar to tables in a relational database.
Items: They are more or less like rows in relational databases; each table is an item with records.
Attributes: The fields or columns of an item are known as attributes.
Primary Keys: These items are distinguished from one another in the same table by partition and sort keys.
Secondary Indexes: These are used to find items through other attributes that are not primary keys. They include both local and global secondary indexes.
Serverless by Nature
The fact that Amazon DynamoDB is serverless entails that there are no tasks that involve managing server provisioning and server maintenance. The only complication in this pricing model, which is directly based on how data is written, read, and stored. Therefore, using this data becomes very important for cost-effective practices.
Deep Dive into Amazon DynamoDB Pricing Structure
The pricing strategy of any service often varies depending on the components or factors involved. We will discuss each component separately so that you understand how the prices are set exactly.
Pricing Components
Request Units (Read/Write): The costs per request are defined on the basis of Write Request Units (WRUs) and Read Request Units (RRUs), either on-demand or per provisioned throughput depending on the table class and the throughput type taken. To elaborate with pricing illustrations for the (N. Virginia) region:
DynamoDB Standard Table Class
On-Demand
Write Request Units: $0.625 per million write request units.
Read Request Units: $0.125 per million read request units.
Example (On-Demand):
If your application generates 2 million write requests and 4 million read requests:
WRU cost = 2 million * $0.625 = $1.25
RRU cost = 4 million * $0.125 = $0.50
Total cost = $1.25 + $0.50 = $1.75
Provisioned Capacity
Write Capacity Unit: $0.00065 per WCU per hour.
Read Capacity Unit: $0.00013 per RCU per hour.
Example (Provisioned):
If you provision 10 WCUs and 20 RCUs for an hour:
WCU cost = 10 * $0.00065 = $0.0065
RCU cost = 20 * $0.00013 = $0.0026
Total cost = $0.0065 + $0.0026 = $0.0091 per hour
DynamoDB Standard-Infrequent Access (DynamoDB Standard-IA) Table Class
On-Demand
Write Request Units: $0.78 per million write request units.
Read Request Units: $0.155 per million read request units.
Example (On-Demand):
If your application generates 2 million write requests and 4 million read requests:
WRU cost = 2 million * $0.78 = $1.56
RRU cost = 4 million * $0.155 = $0.62
Total cost = $1.56 + $0.62 = $2.18
Provisioned Capacity
Write Capacity Unit: $0.00081 per WCU per hour.
Read Capacity Unit: $0.00016 per RCU per hour.
Example (Provisioned):
If you provision 10 WCUs and 20 RCUs for an hour:
WCU cost = 10 * $0.00081 = $0.0081
RCU cost = 20 * $0.00016 = $0.0032
Total cost = $0.0081 + $0.0032 = $0.0113 per hour
It is critical to mention that by selecting the appropriate table class and throughput type, it is possible to minimize the expenses of using the application.
Data Storage Costs:
In the case of DynamoDB storage, there is a fee for gigabyte-months which is independent of the mode, On-demand or Provisioned Capacity being used.
The cost to store a GB in the table class of DynamoDB Standard-Infrequent Access per month amounts to $0.10. For example, a total of GB 30 about Standard-IA will cost approximately $3.00 (30 GB x $0.10).
When using DynamoDB Standard table class, the maximum amount of storage consumed equal to or less than 25 GB a month shall be free of cost, otherwise it is billed at $0.25 per month for each GB.
There’s no difference in costs whilst switching from the other mode to the other, Provisioned or On Demand mode, thus making it easy for customers to choose either mode depending on workload without worrying about storage costs pricing.
Data Transfer Costs:
When transferring data in , it can be done free of cost. Additionally, users, on a monthly basis enjoy up to 100 GB transfer of data out of the internet for free. This is free for every aggregation done across all services and regions provided, excluding China and GovCloud. This applies to all provisions on demand and prearranged capacity.
Once the limit of the free tier – which offers 100 GB of usable bandwidth – is surpassed, prices differ depending on the region. Provided below are the rates applicable to the international transfer of data for the US East (N. Virginia):
- First 10 TB per month: $0.09 per GB
- Next 40 TB per month: $0.085 per GB
- Next 100 TB per month: $0.07 per GB
- Over 150 TB per month: $0.05 per GB
Additional Features:
Backup costs and restoring costs: snapshots for durability purposes.
DynamoDB streams: for event-based applications.
Global Tables: for regional replication across the globe.
On-Demand vs. Provisioned Capacity Modes
On-Demand Capacity
A model where every read/write request is charged and billed for is a pay-per-request model.
Suited for applications with inconsistent or random traffic.
Provisioned Capacity
Allocate RCUs and WCUs beforehand and only pay for the reserved RCU and WCU, irrespective of use levels.
It is best for heavy applications that receive consistent workloads.
Pro Tip: For cost estimates following your workload, use the AWS Pricing Calculator.
Strategies to Optimize Amazon DynamoDB Costs
Having answered the question of how costs are accrued, it is time to note some cost-effective measures while enabling high performance.
Adjust Read/Write Capacities: An option for Provisioned Capacity is setting up Auto Scaling in DynamoDB so that the capacity is modulated according to changes in the workload.
Use Adaptive Capacity: To optimize the operational costs, the service will automatically redistribute the partitions to balance out the workloads across them.
Select the Right Table Class: Approach Standard-IA for infrequently needed data. This approach can cut storage costs by as much as 60 % but not performance.
Delete or Archive Unused Data: The Time To Live (TTL) feature turns off expired items, deleting them and therefore saving storage costs.
Dynamically Scale with Application Traffic: Set the auto scaling on for better traffic management. This helps in cutting costs by preventing the tendency of over-provisioning while at the same time limiting throttling.
Additional Pricing Benefits
AWS Free Tier
AWS offers a free tier for DynamoDB that encompasses the following:
25 GB of free storage per month: This means you can keep over 25 GB worth of information in your subscribed DynamoDB tables without incurring any cost. For instance, if you are creating an application for retaining user profile information such that every profile consumes 1 KB. You can have up to 25 million users’ profiles for free.
25 provisioned RCUs (Read Capacity Units) and 25 WCUs (Write Capacity Units): This provision allows users to make an average of 200 million requests in a month. Suppose an average user of your application does 5 reads and 3 writes in a minute; this would be within the AWS free tier, thereby allowing substantial traffic at no cost.
Reserved Capacity Pricing
For forecastable workloads, you can save money by ordering reserved capacity for a longer period, like 1 year or 3 years. Reserved pricing is for provisioned capacity and sets off a massive saving compared to hourly prices. For example:
For example:
Write Capacity Units:
1 year: $150 upfront or $0.0128 per hour.
3 years: $180 upfront or $0.0081 per hour.
Read Capacity Units:
1 year: $30 upfront or $0.0025 per hour.
3 years: $36 upfront or $0.0016 per hour.
AWS Cost Explorer
The AWS Cost Explorer, along with other tools, is important for monitoring and analyzing costs related to DynamoDB. It also explains one's spending behaviour, and what has contributed to it and provides advice that can help minimize costs. With this tool, one can definitely get better control of the budget and make choices that will be more favourable in terms of resources.
Case Study: How Rapid7 Streamlined Processes and Saved Engineering Time
Rapid7, a prominent security data solutions vendor, had difficulties with self-managed scaling and sustaining their Apache Cassandra clusters. The operational tasks of patching, upgrades, and downtime management increased in complexity and time consumption as their clientele increased. This high operational task load made engineering blind spots endure unnecessary resource requirements, and data deletion techniques internally reduced performance. Rather, these issues impeded the placement of a compelling suitable database that was managed, reliable, and easily affordable.
Results Achieved:
40% improvement in application response time to users.
60 spent engineering hours were saved per week.
Customers were provided with 99.999% availability.
Migration was performed while users did not notice the transition.
Up to a 50% increase in data processing parameters was registered.
Tools and Tips for Cutting DynamoDB Costs
For cost efficiency and maximization of performance, here is what we recommend:
AWS Pricing Calculator: Estimate costs specific to your application requirements.
CloudWatch Metrics: Monitor database performance (e.g., throttling, latency).
Query vs. Scan: Always opt for queries instead of scans to minimize RCUs and execution time.
Why Choose Pump for Cloud Savings?
Pump aims to make spending on DynamoDB cost management easy by automating it with an AI model. The best part? It is free of charge. That is, the fine print has no subscription or mediocre fees. Here is what else makes Pump unique:
Automated cost-saving recommendations
Group buying power for AWS discounts
Real-time monitoring and alerts
Full cost transparency with detailed reports
For example, If you spend $100 on DynamoDB, Pump can drop it to a mere $23; that is a staggering amount, to say the least! This means you get all these tools to control your cloud spending without paying a penny. That sounds interesting, doesn't it?
Conclusion
There’s no need to be daunted by managing costs associated with the Amazon DynamoDB usage. One can understand the various pricing models, thus using appropriate cost reduction measures to enable applications to work efficiently while minimizing costs. You can begin by looking at the patterns of your workload before utilizing AWS tools, that is, Cost Explorer, together with DynamoDB-specific features. Also, tools like Pump will allow a company to save money by making the cost reduction processes easier and more automatic.
Start controlling your database costs now!
