What is DynamoDB Cost Calculator Anyway?
The DynamoDB is an excellent NoSQL alternative to Cassandra. This system is designed, developed and provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to medium and large-sized business corporations. It is an excellent tool for ensuring reliable performance, creating pliant data models and automatically scaling the throughput capacity. The landing pages created using AWS DynamoDB are most preferred by leading companies from the advertising technology, mobile & web gaming and IoT industries.
For those with whom performance matters as much as cost-efficiency, then it is highly advisable for potential buyers to be aware of the pricing details of the DynamoDB service costs so that they can make calculated decisions.
How is DynamoDB pricing determined?
Amazon offers incredible flexibility in services as well as its cost. The DynamoDB storage is charged according to one of two different pricing models – Provisioned Capacity and On-Demand Capacity. In general, the total cost of DynamoDB services is calculated by the numbers of reading and write requests and the volume of data stored on servers on a monthly basis.
Here’s how the main factors influence DynamoDB storage pricing:
Data Storage
AWS DynamoDB charges for storing data by the GBs of disk space which the tables consume. The first 25 GB data storage is free every month while any data stored over 24 GB is charged around US$ 0.25 per GB per month.
Write Requests
AWS charges for API write requests by measuring the Write Capacity Unit (WCU) consumed by individual users. One WCU allows users to write 1 request per second, which is sufficient to write 2.6 million write requests every month. After the first 25 GB free, users are charged around 1 WCU for every write request of less than 1 KB and 2 WCUs for Transactional write requests.
Read Requests
AWS charges for API read requests by measuring the total number of Read Capacity Unit (RCU) consumed by the user on a monthly basis. One RCU allows users to send around 2 read requests per second, which comes to an astonishing 5.2 million read requests per month. After the first 25 GB free storage, AWS charges 1 RCU for every Strongly Consistent read request (of up to 4 KB) while 2 RCUs are needed for 2 Transactional read requests. For a half RCU, users can perform 1 Eventually Consistent read request.
Provisioned Throughput
Auto-scaling for handling increased traffic observance costs extra WCUs and RCUs when users have specified their utilization target in DynamoDB Provisioned Capacity mode. This means when your usage crosses your expected specified limits, then AWS will charge you extra for it on the monthly bills.
Reserved Capacity
If you have sufficient know-how of your traffic and capacity of the application to manage your workload, then the Reserved Capacity mode is highly advised for you. This mode allows users to save significantly with a 1-year contract, with only a one-time upfront fee for the additional service.
Indexed Storage
DynamoDB charges to store indexes. An additional 100 bytes of storage is charged per item on account of the indexes. These indexes are then included in your monthly bill for data storage.
Data Transfer
If you have the need to transfer data between different AWS regions, then AWS will charge you extra for this service.
Caching
If you need a cache in front of your DynamoDB then be prepared to pay extra. The DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) is charged on an hourly basis according to the type of instance chosen.
Streams
The DynamoDB Streams is another excellent product from AWS. It is a time-ordered sequence of item-level changes for DynamoDB tables. The first 2.5 million reads per month are completely free while every 100,000 reads over that limit are charged at around US$ 0.02.
How does the DynamoDB Cost Calculator work?
Simply put, the DynamoDB cost calculator works to estimate the cost of using AWS services and products. Users simply need to search and add the AWS services they are seeking to use. Enter the details of usage for the services and the calculator immediately gives an estimated cost of every product and service accordingly.
How does the DynamoDB Cost Calculator works
Some of the major benefits of using AWS cost calculator are:
- Transparent Pricing – It gives an accurate estimate of the price of the product or service package you are choosing to buy from Amazon Web Services. This helps to analyze and improve your infrastructure costs.
- Multi-Regional Support – Users can configure services or groups of services across multiple AWS regions. The cost calculator estimates the price of services according to specific AWS regions as it varied from region to region.
- Export Estimates – Users can also choose to share their estimates to a fresh .csv file for analyzing their potential cost structure in-depth.
The DynamoDB price calculator is an excellent tool to ensure that the AWS services and products are within your budget and not a strain on your estimated business finances.