Auto-scaling configuration in DynamoDB - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Auto-scaling Configuration for DynamoDB Table

📖 Scenario: You manage a DynamoDB table that stores user activity data. To keep the table responsive and cost-effective, you want to set up auto-scaling for its read and write capacities.

🎯 Goal: Configure auto-scaling for a DynamoDB table's read and write capacity units using AWS SDK commands or CloudFormation-like JSON structure.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a DynamoDB table named UserActivity with a primary key UserId (string).

Define an auto-scaling target for the table's read capacity with minimum 5 and maximum 20 units.

Define an auto-scaling target for the table's write capacity with minimum 5 and maximum 20 units.

Set the target utilization percentage to 70% for both read and write auto-scaling policies.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Auto-scaling helps keep DynamoDB tables responsive during traffic spikes and saves costs during low usage by adjusting capacity automatically.

💼 Career

Understanding DynamoDB auto-scaling is essential for cloud engineers and developers managing scalable, cost-efficient NoSQL databases.

1

Create DynamoDB Table

Create a DynamoDB table named UserActivity with a primary key called UserId of type string.

DynamoDB

# Your code here to create the DynamoDB table UserActivity with UserId as string primary key

Need a hint?

Define TableName, AttributeDefinitions with UserId as string, and KeySchema with UserId as HASH key.

2

Define Auto-scaling Targets

Add auto-scaling target configurations for the UserActivity table's read and write capacity units with minimum capacity 5 and maximum capacity 20.

DynamoDB

{
  "TableName": "UserActivity",
  "AttributeDefinitions": [
    { "AttributeName": "UserId", "AttributeType": "S" }
  ],
  "KeySchema": [
    { "AttributeName": "UserId", "KeyType": "HASH" }
  ],
  "ProvisionedThroughput": {
    "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
    "WriteCapacityUnits": 5
  },
  // Add auto-scaling target configurations here
}

Need a hint?

Use AutoScalingTargets array with entries for read and write capacity specifying MinCapacity and MaxCapacity.

3

Set Target Utilization for Auto-scaling Policies

Add auto-scaling policies for both read and write capacities with a target utilization percentage of 70%.

DynamoDB

{
  "TableName": "UserActivity",
  "AttributeDefinitions": [
    { "AttributeName": "UserId", "AttributeType": "S" }
  ],
  "KeySchema": [
    { "AttributeName": "UserId", "KeyType": "HASH" }
  ],
  "ProvisionedThroughput": {
    "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
    "WriteCapacityUnits": 5
  },
  "AutoScalingTargets": [
    {
      "ResourceId": "table/UserActivity",
      "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:ReadCapacityUnits",
      "MinCapacity": 5,
      "MaxCapacity": 20
    },
    {
      "ResourceId": "table/UserActivity",
      "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:WriteCapacityUnits",
      "MinCapacity": 5,
      "MaxCapacity": 20
    }
  ],
  // Add auto-scaling policies here
}

Need a hint?

Add AutoScalingPolicies array with policies for read and write capacities setting TargetValue to 70.0.

4

Complete Auto-scaling Configuration

Finalize the JSON configuration by ensuring the table, auto-scaling targets, and policies are all included in one JSON object.

DynamoDB

{
  "TableName": "UserActivity",
  "AttributeDefinitions": [
    { "AttributeName": "UserId", "AttributeType": "S" }
  ],
  "KeySchema": [
    { "AttributeName": "UserId", "KeyType": "HASH" }
  ],
  "ProvisionedThroughput": {
    "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
    "WriteCapacityUnits": 5
  },
  "AutoScalingTargets": [
    {
      "ResourceId": "table/UserActivity",
      "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:ReadCapacityUnits",
      "MinCapacity": 5,
      "MaxCapacity": 20
    },
    {
      "ResourceId": "table/UserActivity",
      "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:WriteCapacityUnits",
      "MinCapacity": 5,
      "MaxCapacity": 20
    }
  ],
  "AutoScalingPolicies": [
    {
      "PolicyName": "ReadCapacityAutoScalingPolicy",
      "ResourceId": "table/UserActivity",
      "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:ReadCapacityUnits",
      "TargetTrackingScalingPolicyConfiguration": {
        "TargetValue": 70.0
      }
    },
    {
      "PolicyName": "WriteCapacityAutoScalingPolicy",
      "ResourceId": "table/UserActivity",
      "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:WriteCapacityUnits",
      "TargetTrackingScalingPolicyConfiguration": {
        "TargetValue": 70.0
      }
    }
  ]
}
# Your code here to finalize the configuration

Need a hint?

Ensure all parts are combined in one JSON object: table definition, auto-scaling targets, and policies.