Amazon DynamoDB now offers warm throughput, providing insight into the read and write operations table or index can quickly support, with these values scaling as usage increases. Pre-warming a table is an asynchronous, non-blocking operation, allowing simultaneous executions of other table updates. The scaling capabilities of DynamoDB extend beyond the pre-warming activity, dynamically adjusting as the workload grows. Understanding and managing the current capabilities of a DynamoDB table is crucial, especially ahead of large-scale events. You can monitor warm throughput values using the DescribeTable API for both on-demand and provisioned mode tables.
DynamoDB has capacity modes where provisioned capacity mode allows you to set specific throughput ideal for predictable workloads. While on-demand mode scales automatically to meet demands which is suitable for unpredictable workloads. For more details, refer to DynamoDB throughput capacity in the developer guide.
Warm throughput values are not the maximum limit on your DynamoDB table’s capacity, rather it’s the minimum throughput that your table can handle instantaneously. Pre-warming is especially beneficial in scenarios with anticipated immediate traffic surges, such as product launches, flash sales, or major online events.
Before deciding whether to pre-warm your DynamoDB tables, you should estimate the peak throughput that your application might require. This helps ensure that the table is ready to handle traffic without throttling or performance problems. You can estimate this peak throughput by analyzing past traffic patterns or use forecasting skills.
Warm throughput provides a baseline of the number of reads and writes that a table can instantaneously support. This feature can be particularly beneficial in preparing a new on-demand table for high initial traffic, preparing for a migration to DynamoDB, and preparing for a large-scale event.
Warm throughput values are fully integrated into essential DynamoDB features, including global secondary indexes and global tables, supporting consistent performance across the entire system. One of the key advantages of warm throughput is its integration with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools such as AWS CloudFormation, making managing DynamoDB tables using IaC significantly more straightforward.
Pricing for this service is based on the cost of provisioned WCUs and RCUs in the specific Region where your table is located. By default, on-demand tables have a baseline warm throughput of 4,000 WCUs and 12,000 RCUs. When pre-warming a newly created table, you are only charged for the difference between your specified values and these baseline values, making it cost-effective.
Lee Hannigan, a Sr. DynamoDB Specialist Solutions Architect, brings a wealth of expertise in distributed systems, backed by a strong foundation in big data and analytics technologies. In his role as a DynamoDB Specialist Solutions Architect, Lee excels in assisting customers with the design, evaluation, and optimization of their workloads leveraging DynamoDB’s capabilities.