This document discusses NoSQL databases and when they should be used. It describes what NoSQL databases are, when to consider using one over a relational database, and introduces DynamoDB as an AWS NoSQL solution. Specific topics covered include the differences between relational and NoSQL data models, common use cases for NoSQL databases, and how to access and query DynamoDB tables.

1. How and When to use NoSQL DBs
Denis V. Batalov, Solutions Architect
denisb@amazon.lu @dbatalov
© 2014 Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates. All rights reserved. May not be copied, modified, or distributed in whole or in part without the express consent of Amazon.com, Inc.

2. We will talk about

3. We will talk about
• What is NoSQL DB

4. We will talk about
• What is NoSQL DB
• When it is time to consider NoSQL

5. We will talk about
• What is NoSQL DB
• When it is time to consider NoSQL
• DynamoDB as an AWS NoSQL solution

6. We will talk about
• What is NoSQL DB
• When it is time to consider NoSQL
• DynamoDB as an AWS NoSQL solution
• Case studies for DynamoDB

7. What is a “database”?

8. What is a “database”?
• Data Persistence

9. What is a “database”?
• Data Persistence
• Data Model

10. What is a “database”?
• Data Persistence
• Data Model
• Data Retrieval

11. Traditional RDBMS vs NoSQL
RDBMS NoSQL
Data Model
Data Retrieval

12. Traditional RDBMS vs NoSQL
RDBMS NoSQL
Data Model Relational
Data Retrieval SQL

13. Traditional RDBMS vs NoSQL
RDBMS NoSQL
Data Model Relational Not Relational
Data Retrieval SQL Not SQL

14. Relational Databases
Scale
Database Query Performance
Desired consistency, predictability

15. Relational Databases
Scale
Database Query Performance
Desired consistency, predictability
Actual
degraded
performance
with scale

16. Scale
Database Query Performance
Desired consistency, predictability
Actual
degraded
performance
with scale
Management problems
Data sharding
Data caching
Provisioning
Cluster management
Fault management
Relational Databases

17. NoSQL DB typical features
• Non-relational
• Distributed
• Eventually consistent
• Horizontally scalable
• Support replication
• Schema-free

18. Typical use cases for NoSQL
• Fast reads/writes with very low jitter
• Huge amounts of data

19. NoSQL on AWS

20. NoSQL on AWS
• Deploy popular third-party solutions via EC2
– MongoDB
– Cassandra
– Redis

21. NoSQL on AWS
• Deploy popular third-party solutions via EC2
– MongoDB
– Cassandra
– Redis
OR
• Use a managed AWS service – DynamoDB

22. Tools Positioning Matrix
S3
Glacier
Redshift
Elastic MapReduce
RDS
Large
Size
Small
Dynamo
DB
Elasti
Cache
Low Latency / Complexity High

23. Amazon DynamoDB

24. Amazon DynamoDB
NoSQL Database
Fast & predictable performance
Seamless Scalability
Easy administration
“Even though we have years of experience with large, complex NoSQL
architectures, we are happy to be finally out of the business of managing it
ourselves.” - Don MacAskill, CEO
ADMIN

25. Access and Query Model
Two primary key options
 Hash key: Key lookups: “Give me the status for user foo”
 Composite key (Hash with Range): “Give me all the status updates for user ‘foo’ that occurred
within the past 24 hours”
Support for multiple data types
 Scalar: number, string, binary
 Multi-valued: number set, string set, binary set
Consistency: Supports both strong and eventual consistency
 Pick consistency mode at per API call
 Different parts of applications can make different choices

26. Operations
Table Operations
 CreateTable, UpdateTable, DeleteTable
 ListTables, DescribeTable
Item Operations
 GetItem, BatchGetItem
 PutItem, UpdateItem, DeleteItem, BatchWriteItem
Query & Scan
 Query, Scan
Atomic Counters and Conditional updates

27. Social Network
hash + range schemas

28. Social Network
• Store info about users
• Query for a user’s friends

29. Social Network
Friends Table Users Table

30. User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01
Social Network
Users Table

31. User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01
Social Network
Users Table
Item

32. User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01
Social Network
Users Table
Attribute
(string, number, binary, set)

33. User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01
Social Network
Users Table
Primary Key
(Hash)

34. User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01
Social Network
Friends Table
User Friend
Bob Alice
Alice Bob
Alice Carol
Alice Dan
Users Table

35. Social Network
Friends Table
User Friend
Bob Alice
Alice Bob
Alice Carol
Alice Dan
Hash-and-Range
Primary Key Schema
Users Table
User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01

36. Social Network
Friends Table
User Friend
Bob Alice
Alice Bob
Alice Carol
Alice Dan
Query for Alice’s friends
Users Table
User Birthday
Bob 11.02
Alice 15.10
Carol 30.06
Dan 05.01

37. DynamoDB Highlights: Performance
Typical service-side latency: single digit milliseconds
Solid State Drive (SSD)-backed service
Latency is consistent
– As throughput increases
– As storage grows
No need for tuning.

38. DynamoDB Highlights: Reliability
Durability
– Synchronous replication for high durability
– A write is only acknowledged (committed) once it exists in at least two
physical data centers
– All writes occur to disk, not memory
Availability
– Regional service
– spans multiple availability zones
– All data is continuously
replicated to multiple AZ’s

39. Provisioned Throughput
Reserve the throughput needed for each table
– Set at table creation
– Example: My table needs 1,000 writes/second and 5,000
reads/seconds of capacity
Increase / decrease any time via API call
Pay for throughput and storage (not instances)

40. Provisioned Throughput
Why?
– Simpler capacity planning
– Easy to translate calls to Apps => calls to database
– Not in terms of servers and disk IOPS
– Do not be locked in your peak for month or year!

41. Capacity we needed before DynamoDB
Actual traffic
Capacity we can provision
with DynamoDB

42. DynamoDB Customer Highlights
x

43. Thanks!
How and When to use NoSQL DBs
Denis V. Batalov, Solutions Architect
denisb@amazon.lu @dbatalov
© 2014 Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates. All rights reserved. May not be copied, modified, or distributed in whole or in part without the express consent of Amazon.com, Inc.