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DynamoDB Tables

Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service. While it scales seamlessly, unused tables, forgotten Global Secondary Indexes (GSIs), and suboptimal table class configurations can silently accumulate costs.

Implementation Effort: Low - Estimated time: less than 30 minutes. Delete unused tables/GSIs or switch table class to Standard-IA via console or CLI.

What We Detect

  • Unused tables -- Tables with no read or write activity over an extended period, still incurring storage and provisioned throughput charges
  • Orphaned GSIs -- Global Secondary Indexes with no read activity, consuming write replication costs and storage
  • Wrong table class -- Tables storing large amounts of infrequently accessed data on the Standard class instead of Standard-IA, overpaying on storage

Why It Matters

Each unused table or GSI represents ongoing cost with zero business value. Switching storage-heavy tables to Standard-IA can reduce storage costs by ~60%. Provisioned tables with zero activity still pay for their configured capacity.

Recommendations

  1. Unused tables -- Back up and delete the table, or switch to on-demand mode to eliminate throughput costs while retaining data
  2. Unused GSIs -- Delete the index. GSI data is derived from the base table and can be recreated if needed
  3. Table class optimization -- Switch to Standard-IA for storage-heavy, infrequently accessed tables

Keep on chasing 🧡