Evaluate your table class selection

This section provides an overview of how to select the appropriate table class for your DynamoDB table. With the launch of the Standard Infrequent-Access (Standard-IA) table class, you now have the ability to optimize a table for either lower storage cost or lower throughput cost.

What table classes are available

When you create a DynamoDB Table, you must select either DynamoDB Standard or DynamoDB Standard-IA for the table class. The table class can be changed twice in a 30-day period, so you can always change it in the future. Selecting either table class has no effect on table performance, availability, reliability, or durability.

Standard table class

The Standard table class is the default option for new tables. This option maintains the original billing balance of DynamoDB which offers a balance of throughput and storage costs for tables with frequently accessed data.

Standard-IA table class

The Standard-IA table class offers a lower storage cost (~60% lower) for workloads that require long-term storage of data with infrequent updates or reads. Since the class is optimized for infrequent access, reads and writes will be billed at a slightly higher cost (~25% higher) than the Standard table class.

When to select the DynamoDB Standard table class

DynamoDB Standard table class is best suited for tables whose storage cost is approximately 50% or less of the overall monthly cost of the table. This cost balance is indicative of a workload that regularly accesses or updates items already stored within DynamoDB.

When to select DynamoDB Standard-IA table class

DynamoDB Standard-IA table class is best suited for tables whose storage cost is approximately 50% or more of the overall monthly cost of the table. This cost balance is indicative of a workload that creates or reads fewer items per month than it keeps in storage.

A common use for the Standard-IA table class is moving less frequently accessed data to individual Standard-IA tables. For further information, see Optimizing the storage costs of your workloads with Amazon DynamoDB Standard-IA table class.

Additional factors to consider when choosing a table class

When deciding between the two table classes, there are some additional factors worth considering as part of your decision.

Reserved capacity

Purchasing reserved capacity for tables using the Standard-IA table class is currently not supported. When transitioning from a Standard table with reserved capacity to a Standard-IA table without reserved capacity, you may not see a cost benefit.