Index capacity and cost in DynamoDB - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Index Capacity and Cost in DynamoDB

📖 Scenario: You are managing a DynamoDB table for an online bookstore. You want to understand how adding a Global Secondary Index (GSI) affects the table's capacity and cost.

🎯 Goal: Build a DynamoDB table with a primary key and a Global Secondary Index. Configure the read and write capacity units for both the table and the index to see how capacity is allocated.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a DynamoDB table named Books with a primary key BookID (string).

Add a Global Secondary Index named AuthorIndex with Author as the partition key (string).

Set the table's read capacity units to 5 and write capacity units to 5.

Set the GSI's read capacity units to 3 and write capacity units to 2.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Managing DynamoDB tables with indexes is common in real-world applications to optimize query performance and control costs.

💼 Career

Understanding how to configure capacity units for tables and indexes is essential for database administrators and backend developers working with AWS DynamoDB.

1

Create the DynamoDB table with primary key

Create a DynamoDB table named Books with a primary key called BookID of type string. Set the provisioned throughput with ReadCapacityUnits as 5 and WriteCapacityUnits as 5.

DynamoDB

# Create the DynamoDB table named Books with primary key BookID and provisioned throughput
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use AWS::DynamoDB::Table resource with AttributeDefinitions, KeySchema, and ProvisionedThroughput.

2

Add Global Secondary Index configuration

Add a Global Secondary Index named AuthorIndex to the Books table. Use Author as the partition key of type string. Do not set capacity units yet.

DynamoDB

Resources:
  BooksTable:
    Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
    Properties:
      TableName: Books
      AttributeDefinitions:
        - AttributeName: BookID
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: Author
          AttributeType: S
      KeySchema:
        - AttributeName: BookID
          KeyType: HASH
      ProvisionedThroughput:
        ReadCapacityUnits: 5
        WriteCapacityUnits: 5
      GlobalSecondaryIndexes:
        - IndexName: AuthorIndex
          KeySchema:
            - AttributeName: Author
              KeyType: HASH
          Projection:
            ProjectionType: ALL
# Your code here to add the GSI without capacity units

Need a hint?

Add GlobalSecondaryIndexes with IndexName, KeySchema, and Projection.

3

Set capacity units for the Global Secondary Index

Set the ReadCapacityUnits to 3 and WriteCapacityUnits to 2 for the AuthorIndex Global Secondary Index in the Books table.

DynamoDB

Resources:
  BooksTable:
    Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
    Properties:
      TableName: Books
      AttributeDefinitions:
        - AttributeName: BookID
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: Author
          AttributeType: S
      KeySchema:
        - AttributeName: BookID
          KeyType: HASH
      ProvisionedThroughput:
        ReadCapacityUnits: 5
        WriteCapacityUnits: 5
      GlobalSecondaryIndexes:
        - IndexName: AuthorIndex
          KeySchema:
            - AttributeName: Author
              KeyType: HASH
          Projection:
            ProjectionType: ALL
          ProvisionedThroughput:
            ReadCapacityUnits: 3
            WriteCapacityUnits: 2
# Your code here to add capacity units to the GSI

Need a hint?

Inside the AuthorIndex, add ProvisionedThroughput with the specified capacity units.

4

Complete the DynamoDB table configuration

Ensure the full DynamoDB table resource named BooksTable includes the primary key, provisioned throughput, and the Global Secondary Index AuthorIndex with its capacity units.

DynamoDB

Resources:
  BooksTable:
    Type: AWS::DynamoDB::Table
    Properties:
      TableName: Books
      AttributeDefinitions:
        - AttributeName: BookID
          AttributeType: S
        - AttributeName: Author
          AttributeType: S
      KeySchema:
        - AttributeName: BookID
          KeyType: HASH
      ProvisionedThroughput:
        ReadCapacityUnits: 5
        WriteCapacityUnits: 5
      GlobalSecondaryIndexes:
        - IndexName: AuthorIndex
          KeySchema:
            - AttributeName: Author
              KeyType: HASH
          Projection:
            ProjectionType: ALL
          ProvisionedThroughput:
            ReadCapacityUnits: 3
            WriteCapacityUnits: 2
# Finalize the table resource

Need a hint?

Review the entire table resource to confirm all parts are included correctly.