All Integrations
CloudCloudWatch Metric Streams + IAM

AWS DynamoDB Integration

Monitor read/write capacity, throttling events, and item-level latency for DynamoDB tables. Contributor Insights integration surfaces hot partition keys with AI-powered root cause analysis for throttle events.

Setup

How It Works

01

Deploy CloudFormation Stack

Launch the TigerOps CloudFormation template to configure Metric Streams for the AWS/DynamoDB namespace. The stack creates the IAM role with read permissions for table metadata.

02

Auto-Discover Tables

TigerOps enumerates all DynamoDB tables in your account via the DynamoDB ListTables API and groups them by tag (Environment, Service, Team). New tables are monitored automatically.

03

Enable Contributor Insights

Activate DynamoDB Contributor Insights on high-traffic tables. TigerOps ingests the top-N hot partition keys and hot items, enabling you to identify access hotspots that cause throttling.

04

Set Throttle & Latency Alerts

Configure per-table throttle event alerts and latency SLO thresholds. TigerOps fires alerts at the first ThrottledRequests count and correlates them with the responsible application service.

Capabilities

What You Get Out of the Box

Capacity Utilisation

Consumed read and write capacity units vs. provisioned capacity per table and GSI. TigerOps visualises capacity headroom and alerts before throttling occurs based on trend analysis.

Throttle Event Detection

ThrottledRequests counted per table and operation type (GetItem, PutItem, Query, Scan). TigerOps alerts on any throttle event and correlates it with the IAM principal and application service responsible.

Item-Level Latency

SuccessfulRequestLatency p50/p99 per operation type. TigerOps alerts when GetItem or Query latency spikes and correlates it with hot partition events, table size growth, or concurrent stream consumption.

Global Secondary Index Metrics

Per-GSI consumed capacity, throttle events, and replication latency. TigerOps surfaces GSI-specific throttling that is often invisible when only looking at table-level metrics.

DynamoDB Streams Monitoring

DynamoDB Streams shard iterator age and GetRecords latency tracked alongside table metrics. TigerOps alerts when stream consumers fall behind, before the 24-hour retention window becomes a risk.

AI Hot Partition Analysis

TigerOps combines Contributor Insights data with throttle event timing to identify hot partition keys causing uneven capacity consumption. Actionable partition key recommendations are surfaced automatically.

Configuration

DynamoDB Contributor Insights Setup

Enable Contributor Insights and deploy the TigerOps DynamoDB monitoring stack.

dynamodb-setup.sh
# Enable DynamoDB Contributor Insights on a table
aws dynamodb update-contributor-insights \
  --table-name my-orders-table \
  --contributor-insights-action ENABLE

# Enable on a GSI
aws dynamodb update-contributor-insights \
  --table-name my-orders-table \
  --index-name customer-id-index \
  --contributor-insights-action ENABLE

# Deploy TigerOps DynamoDB monitoring stack
aws cloudformation deploy \
  --template-url https://tigerops-cfn.s3.amazonaws.com/dynamodb-integration.yaml \
  --stack-name tigerops-dynamodb \
  --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM \
  --parameter-overrides \
    TigerOpsApiKey=${TIGEROPS_API_KEY} \
    EnableContributorInsights=true \
    ThrottleAlertOnFirstEvent=true

# Tag tables for auto-discovery
aws dynamodb tag-resource \
  --resource-arn arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:123456789:table/my-orders-table \
  --tags Key=Environment,Value=production Key=Service,Value=order-service Key=Team,Value=commerce
FAQ

Common Questions

How does TigerOps help identify DynamoDB hot partitions?

TigerOps enables DynamoDB Contributor Insights and ingests the top-N hot partition key and sort key access patterns. When throttling events occur, TigerOps correlates the timestamp with the Contributor Insights data to identify which partition keys are causing the hotspot.

Does TigerOps support DynamoDB auto-scaling monitoring?

Yes. TigerOps monitors the provisioned capacity alongside consumed capacity and tracks auto-scaling target utilisation. When auto-scaling increases capacity, TigerOps annotates the event on your metric chart so you can see what triggered the scale-up.

Can TigerOps alert on DynamoDB on-demand table throttling?

Yes. Even on-demand tables have burst limits and can throttle under extreme conditions. TigerOps monitors ThrottledRequests for both provisioned and on-demand tables and alerts on any non-zero throttle count.

How does TigerOps monitor DynamoDB Streams?

TigerOps monitors the GetRecords.IteratorAgeMilliseconds metric for DynamoDB Streams, which indicates how far behind the consumer is. Alerts fire when the iterator age approaches 24 hours to prevent data loss from stream expiration.

Does TigerOps support DynamoDB global tables?

Yes. TigerOps collects per-region metrics for DynamoDB global tables including ReplicationLatency between regions. It alerts when cross-region replication lag indicates a potential consistency window issue.

Get Started

Catch DynamoDB Throttles and Hot Partitions Before They Hurt

Capacity monitoring, throttle alerts, and hot partition analysis with Contributor Insights. Connect in minutes.