DynamoDB gives you two ways to pay for throughput, and the exam wants you to pick the right one for the traffic pattern described. Get the pattern, get the point.
On-demand vs provisioned
On-demand scales instantly and charges per request — best for new, spiky, or unpredictable workloads where you can’t forecast traffic. Provisioned lets you set read/write capacity units (with optional auto scaling) and costs less for steady, predictable traffic. The trade-off is simple: pay-per-request flexibility vs cheaper predictable capacity.
Test yourself
A brand-new app has no traffic history and could spike unpredictably at launch. Which DynamoDB capacity mode is safest to start with?
- Provisioned with fixed low capacity
- On-demand capacity mode
- Provisioned with no auto scaling
- Reserved capacity
👉 Click to reveal the answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. On-demand absorbs unpredictable spikes with no forecasting or throttling risk — ideal for a launch with no history. Fixed provisioned capacity (A, C) risks throttling during spikes; reserved capacity (D) is a billing commitment for known steady load.
Related topics
Amazon DynamoDB · DynamoDB Streams · Amazon RDS
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