Home > Articles

Storing Data in AWS

In this sample chapter from AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C01) Cert Guide, you will review content related to development with AWS Services and refactoring exam domains.

This chapter is from the book

This chapter covers the following subjects:

  • Storing Static Assets in AWS: One of the key aspects of cloud computing is the ability to consume a virtually unlimited amount of resources. The first part of this chapter covers how to use the S3 and Glacier services to store and deliver unlimited amounts of static data in AWS.

  • Relational Versus Nonrelational Databases: To prepare you for the next two chapters, this section provides a short overview of the differences between relational and nonrelational databases and data types suitable for each database type.

  • Deploying Relational Databases in AWS: This section examines the deployment of relational databases using AWS Relational Database Service (RDS).

  • Handling Nonrelational Data in AWS: Some datasets are just not suitable for relational databases. When sustained and predictable performance for relatively simple datasets is required, you can use the DynamoDB service in AWS. This section examines the characteristics of DynamoDB and shows how to use DynamoDB in your applications.

  • Caching Data in AWS: The last part of this chapter covers the different options for caching data and accelerating the delivery of content from the storage systems covered in this chapter.

This chapter covers content important to the following exam domains:

  • Domain 3: Development with AWS Services

    • 3.1 Write code for serverless applications.

    • 3.2 Translate functional requirements into application design.

    • 3.3 Implement application design into application code.

    • 3.4 Write code that interacts with AWS services by using APIs, SDKs, and AWS CLI.

  • Domain 4: Refactoring

    • 4.1 Optimize application to best use AWS services and features.

The challenge of maintaining and storing data in the most efficient manner has been plaguing enterprises for decades. There is never enough storage, and storage performance is quite often a factor in poor application performance. Moreover, storing data securely and preventing disastrous consequences of losing data can be a huge challenge. As the old saying goes, “If your data is not stored in three places at once, it does not exist persistently.”

A typical enterprise might make tremendous investments in data storage hardware, storage area networks, storage management software, replication, snapshots, backup software, virtual tape libraries, and all kinds of different solutions for storing different data types on different tiers, only to find itself needing to make more hefty investments a year later. I have personally witnessed millions of dollars being spent on data storage solutions with little effect on the final outcome over the long term. It seems the storage industry has no need to plan obsolescence of their products as storage is the only resource in computing that will keep growing and growing.

So what is the solution? Well, it’s mostly about selecting the right storage back end for the right type of data. It is not possible to solve a data crisis with a one-size-fits-all service; rather, you need to take a multipronged approach including classifying your data, deciding which data is suitable for the cloud, and selecting the right type of cloud solution for storing that data. Some data might be bound by compliance, confidentiality, or governance that therefore might need to stay on premises, but for most other data, a much more cost-effective way is to store it in the cloud. AWS offers several different services for storing your data, and this chapter takes a look at each of them.

“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz

The “Do I Know This Already?” quiz allows you to assess whether you should read the entire chapter. Table 4-1 lists the major headings in this chapter and the “Do I Know This Already?” quiz questions covering the material in those headings so you can assess your knowledge of these specific areas. The answers to the “Do I Know This Already?” quiz appear in Appendix A, “Answers to the ‘Do I Know This Already?’ Quizzes and Q&A Sections.”

Table 4-1 “Do I Know This Already?” Foundation Topics Section-to-Question Mapping

Foundations Topics Section

Questions

Storing Static Data in AWS

1, 2, 5, 10, 11

Deploying Relational Databases in AWS

3, 6, 7

Handling Nonrelational Data in AWS

4, 8, 12

Caching Data in AWS

9, 13

  1. You are asked to provide an HTTP-addressable data store that will have the ability to serve a static website. Which data back end would be the most suitable to complete this task?

    1. DynamoDB

    2. EBS

    3. Glacier

    4. S3

  2. Complete this sentence: The S3 service allows for storing an unlimited amount of data as long as individual files are not larger than _____ and any individual PUT commands do not exceed _____.

    1. 5 GB; 5 MB

    2. 5 GB; 5 GB

    3. 5 TB; 5 GB

    4. 5 TB; 5 MB

  3. Which of these databases is not supported by RDS?

    1. Cassandra

    2. Microsoft SQL

    3. Oracle

    4. MariaDB

  4. To determine the number of read capacity units required for your data, what do you need to consider ?

    1. Whether reads are performed in the correct sequence

    2. Whether reads are strongly or eventually consistent

    3. Whether reads are coming from one or multiple sources

    4. All of these answers are correct.

  5. Which of the following is not an S3 service tier?

    1. S3 Standard

    2. S3 Accelerated Access

    3. S3 Infrequent Access

    4. S3 Reduced Redundancy Store

  6. RDS has the ability to deliver a synchronous replica in another availability zone in which mode?

    1. Multi-AZ mode

    2. High-availability mode

    3. Cross-AZ mode

    4. Master-slave mode

  7. Your company is implementing a business intelligence (BI) platform that needs to retain end-of-month datasets for analytical purposes. You have been asked to create a script that will be able to create a monthly record of your complete database that can be used for analytics purposes only if required. What would be the easiest way of doing this?

    1. In RDS, choose to create an automated backup procedure that will create a database snapshot every month. The snapshot can be restored to a working database if required by the BI software.

    2. Write a script that will run on a predetermined day and hour of the month and snapshot the RDS database. The snapshot can be restored to a working database if required by the BI software.

    3. Write a script that will offload all the monthly data from the database into S3. The data in S3 can be imported into a working database if required by the BI software.

    4. In RDS, choose to create an automated export procedure that will offload all the monthly data from the database into S3. The data in S3 can be imported into a working database if required by the BI software.

  8. If your application has unknown and very spiky read and write performance characteristics, which of the following should you consider choosing?

    1. Using a NoSQL solution such as Memcached

    2. Auto-scaling the DynamoDB capacity

    3. Distributing data across multiple DynamoDB tables

    4. Using the on-demand model for DynamoDB

  9. Which service would you select to accelerate the delivery of video files?

    1. S3 Accelerated Access

    2. ElastiCache

    3. CloudCache

    4. CloudFront

  10. When uploading files to S3, it is recommended to do which of the following? (Choose all that apply.)

    1. Split files 100 MB in size to multipart upload them to increase performance

    2. Use a WAN accelerator to increase performance

    3. Add metadata when initiating the upload

    4. Use a VPN connection to increase security

    5. Use the S3 HTTPS front end to increase security

    6. Add metadata after the upload has completed

  11. Which of these data stores would offer be the least expensive way to store millions of log files that are kept for retention purposes?

    1. DynamoDB

    2. EBS

    3. Glacier

    4. S3

  12. DynamoDB reads are performed via:

    1. HTTP NoSQL requests to the DynamoDB API.

    2. HTTP HEAD requests to the DynamoDB API.

    3. HTTP PUT requests to the DynamoDB API.

    4. HTTP GET requests to the DynamoDB API.

  13. Which ElastiCache engine can support Multi-AZ deployments?

    1. Redis

    2. Memcached

    3. DAX

    4. All of these answers are correct.

Pearson IT Certification Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Pearson IT Certification and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Pearson IT Certification products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Adobe Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.pearsonitcertification.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020