Time to live (TTL) for expiration in AWS - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Time to Live (TTL) in AWS DynamoDB?

TTL is a feature that automatically deletes expired items from a DynamoDB table after a specified timestamp, helping manage storage and reduce costs.

beginner

How does TTL help in managing data in AWS DynamoDB?

TTL removes items that are no longer needed by automatically deleting them after their expiration time, keeping the table clean and saving storage space.

intermediate

Which attribute type must the TTL attribute be in DynamoDB?

The TTL attribute must be a Number type representing the expiration time as a Unix epoch timestamp in seconds.

intermediate

What happens if you disable TTL on a DynamoDB table?

Disabling TTL stops automatic deletion of expired items, but existing expired items remain until manually deleted or overwritten.

advanced

Can TTL guarantee immediate deletion of expired items in DynamoDB?

No, TTL deletion is eventually consistent and can take up to 48 hours to remove expired items after their expiration time.

What data type should the TTL attribute be in DynamoDB?

A Number (Unix epoch time in seconds)

B String (ISO date format)

C Boolean

D Binary

TTL attribute must be a Number representing the expiration time as Unix epoch time in seconds.

What happens when an item reaches its TTL expiration time in DynamoDB?

A It is immediately deleted.

B It is marked as expired but not deleted.

C It is eventually deleted within 48 hours.

D It is archived automatically.

TTL deletion is eventually consistent and can take up to 48 hours after expiration.

Which AWS service uses TTL to automatically remove expired data?

A Amazon S3

B AWS Lambda

C Amazon EC2

D Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB supports TTL to automatically delete expired items.

If TTL is disabled on a DynamoDB table, what happens to expired items?

A They remain until manually deleted.

B They are deleted immediately.

C They are archived.

D They are moved to a different table.

Disabling TTL stops automatic deletion; expired items remain until manually removed.

Why is TTL useful in DynamoDB?

A To encrypt data automatically.

B To reduce storage costs by removing expired data.

C To increase read capacity.

D To backup data automatically.

TTL helps reduce storage costs by automatically deleting expired items.

Explain how TTL works in AWS DynamoDB and why it is useful.

Think about how expired data is handled automatically.

Describe the steps to enable TTL on a DynamoDB table and what data type the TTL attribute must have.

Focus on configuration and attribute requirements.