Can AWS DAX Help Make Your Application The Next Billion Dollar App?
Every developer understands the importance of cache for the development of an application. However, is AWS DAX (Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator) the best out of them all? Read to know more about it!
AWS DAX is one of the latest technological services from Amazon Web Services that is helping revolutionize the world.
Brief History of Application Development
- It is the cache solution modern application developers rely on to make technological advances faster by microseconds.
- But before we dive into what it is and whether can it help you develop the next billion-dollar app, we would like to reflect on the history of tech advancement.
- There is no doubt that technology in the 21st century has advanced in leaps and bounds.
- Until the 1980s, the world was a completely different place with different cultures in different parts of the world.
- One never had access to their information, and if you wanted to mingle with them, you had to fly to them to know the difference.
However, once the ‘90s rolled around and the internet became a thing, everything suddenly changed and was accessible.
Cloud computing is the next step of this varied revolution, with Amazon Web Services leading the charge.
What’s Next For AWS?
AWS is a 180 billion dollar entity now; with every passing year, they are reaching a newer atmosphere.
Out of the hundreds of services they currently offer today, we are focusing on AWS DAX. So let’s start from the beginning and answer, “What is AWS DAX?“
What is AWS DAX?
AWS DAX (Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator) is a readily available cache solution that is maintained by Amazon Web Services and offered to us by AWS.
It is a revolutionary service as it works at least tenfold faster than any of its nearest competitors.
It provides you speed, precision, and accuracy like never before and performs every arduous task for you, so you as an application developer can solely focus on creating the best app possible.
What is a Cache?
However, before we get ahead of ourselves, we would like to take a second to explain to the uninitiated what a cache is.
In layman’s terms, Cache is the memory recall that an application needs to remember information quickly and adequately.
If you have used Google, when you start typing something on it and it starts to auto-fill solutions for you, it is a prime example of a cache.
Why Do You Need a Cache?
We know now the next question lingering on your mind must be, “Why do you even need a cache if you are building an application?”
It’s a valid question, and its most straightforward answer is that you need a cache integration in your application so it can become fast and operate at a pleasant speed.
People in 2022 have an attention span shorter than a goldfish. Hence, if your application is slow, they quickly get frustrated and move on to the next app that will provide them with the required information.
No one has time to wait, and cache ensures no one has to as it already has all the information available on a speed dial.
Level of Performance AWS DAX Serve You?
Now let’s return to our original service of AWS DAX. Its speed makes it stand out from the rest and it has become the preferred choice of cache solution for all the leading application developers.
With AWS DAX, you can work 10x faster than with its nearest competitor, as you can use it to complete your tasks in single-digit microseconds, compared to the milliseconds others take.
Benefits of Using AWS DAX
When AWS DAX has already become the leading cache solution globally, they are bound to offer benefits that others cannot match.
Hence, out of the many, the following have been handpicked by us, giving them an edge over their competitors:
1. Lightning Performance
The first and most significant benefit AWS DAX provides you is lightning performance, as they are aggressively fast.
No in-memory cache can even dream of performing the tasks of a cache solution at the speed at which they regularly do.
Through various industry tests and using the best practices, they have time and time again come up with a ten times faster program as they can perform tasks in single-digit microseconds.
2. Provides You The Ability To Scale Your Application To Desired Scope
The second benefit AWS DAX provides application developers is the ability to scale on demand.
Whether you need a three-node DAX cluster or ten nodes, it is readily available to provide you with the performance you need to achieve excellence.
Compromise on the application’s performance and scaling is a big no.
3. Completely Managed Under AWS
Every application developer knows the frustration they go through when they have to worry about software or hardware management tasks on cache solution software.
This isn’t the case with AWS DynamoDB, DAX, because the Amazon Web Services team completely manages it.
You just get to use the resources to do your job, and none of the maintenance jobs is your task.
4. User Friendly
When you use third-party cache solution software to develop your application, writing custom code is a must for you if you want flawless integration.
However, this worry doesn’t apply to DAX because it is completely compatible with all AWS services.
Hence, by using it you just have to focus on developing your application while it does the heavy lifting of miscellaneous tasks on its own.
5. Protects The Data of Your Application
The final benefit we believe AWS DAX provides you is the unrivaled protection of your data when you use it on your application.
Amazon Web Services prides itself on providing you with the safest web services in the world, and this being, their product is guaranteed to provide you with the best results without any hassle.
Limitations of Using AWS DAX
There is no doubt that DynamoDB, DAX is the best cache solution for application developers. Still, we believe it isn’t perfect.
Therefore, we have highlighted its biggest limitations in the pointers below. So without any further ado, here are the following:
| AWS DAX is tot ideal for all applications, and it benefits reading-intensive applications more |
| Write intensive applications struggle using AWS DAX |
| AWS DAX does not integrate well with another caching solution |
Brands That Use AWS DAX
When we repeatedly claimed that Amazon Web Services DAX is the preferred choice of all top-tier application developers.
We were claiming it on behalf of the following brands’ developers who already use them to develop their applications. For example:
- Tinder
- Careem
- Expedia
When You Should Use DAX vs. When You Shouldn’t
Now that you know the benefits and limitations that AWS DAX offers.
So the next topic we would like to discuss is when should application developers use it and when they shouldn’t.
According to our understanding, the following are the situations where you should and shouldn’t use them.
| When You Should Use AWS DAX | When You Shouldn’t Use AWS DAX |
| An application that needs swift result | An application that can manage without swift results |
| If you are designing a read Intensive Application | If you are designing a write-intensive application |
| An application where repeated read of data is required | An application that uses multiple caching solutions |
Is AWS DAX Trustworthy for my application?
AWS DAX is highly trustworthy for the development of your application as already some of the biggest apps in the world like Careem (Vehicle for hire), Tinder (Dating), and Expedia (Travel Shopping) use it to develop and maintain their apps.
What Regions is AWS DAX Available in?
As of April 2022, AWS DAX is available in the following regions
| US East (North Virginia) | US West (Ohio) |
| US West (Oregon) | US West (North California) |
| South America (Sao Paulo) | EU (Ireland) |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore) | Asia Pacific (Tokyo) |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney) | Asia Pacific (Mumbai) |
Which applications is AWS DAX ideal for?
AWS DAX is ideal for applications that require the following characteristic:
- Applications that require results in microseconds
- Applications that are reading intensive
- Apps that need a single cache solution
How to create DAX Cluster?
Let us work together and create a DAX Cluster for our DynamoDB table. Shall we start?
Step 1. As usual log in to the console and go to the DynamoDB page.
Step 2. Give a name to your Nodes
Step 3. Choose the type of instance you would like to go to as per the load expected. Also, select the cluster size based on the business requirements.
Step 4. Select the Subnets, and VPC if you have already created else you can ask the system to create subnets for you.
Step 5. Control your access with the proper Security Group, with proper inbound rules set in.
Step 6. Make sure to set up proper IAM permissions for security.
Step 7. It’s always a good idea to enable encryption at rest as well as during rest for better data protection.
Step 8. Set up the TTL for the items as well as the query for better system performance.
Step 9. Tag the system for proper identification.
Step 10. In the end, you will get a Review page based on the selection you have done. Then just hit Create and your DAX system is ready.
AWS DAX Vs Elasticache (DAX Vs Redis or DAX Vs Memcached)
We know very well both are Caching services and are available in AWS as well, so let’s try to find out how are different.
| DAX | Elasticache |
| Only Supports DynamoDB | Works with many RDS in Cloud as well as DB’s on-premises. |
| Enhance the performance of the DynamoDb up to 10 times with DAX | This supports Redis and Memcache which is an in-memory cache service improving the performance of your RDS or application |
| We have evidence that DAX performs way better than Elasticache when the load increases enormously on the DynamoDB. | Works well with RDS to provide a layer of caching for faster data retrieval. For applications as well. |
| Works with no or minimal code changes to support your data retrieval speed. | A major change in code is required to fetch data from the caching service. |
AWS DAX pricing
DAX is a premium service and is costly. Still, it is used in many gaming apps as well as a read-intensive application for user experience.
The price of DAX depends on the number of nodes provisioned as well as the size of item and read capacity provisioned.
FAQs of AWS DAX
The following are the most FAQs of AWS DAX.
Q: Can My Data Security Be Compromised While Using AWS DAX?
No, your security will not be compromised while using AWS DAX because Amazon Web Services prides itself on providing one of the world’s safest security. Thus, many top apps prefer to use it to develop their apps.
Q: Is There A Disaster Recovery Option In AWS DAX?
Yes, there is a disaster recovery option in AWS DAX as you can pay to have your data backup and stored on a monthly basis.
Q: Can I Run My DAX In Multiple AWS Accounts?
You can run DAX on multiple AWS accounts.
Q: Is AWS DAX Available On AWS Free Tier, Or Is It A Premium Service?
AWS DAX is available in both versions. If you are unsure about it, you can begin with DAX free tier, and once satisfied, you can upgrade yourself to the premium version.
Q: What Is The Core Job That AWS DAX Performs?
AWS DAX performs the core job of being the in-memory cache solution that searches and provides you with data in microseconds to optimize your application efficiency.
Q: AWS DAX documentation
We have tried our best to give you the best. Still, if you like you can refer to the documentation given by AWS.
Q: AWS DAX Cluster?
DAX Cluster is a combination of Nodes that you provision for your in-memory cache. It supports all kinds of nodes like t-type and r-type nodes and it is recommended to have at least 3 modes in a DAX cluster.
Q: AWS DAX API?
DynamoDB provides API for all kinds of operations that can be performed by DynamoDB and the cache is managed automatically.
Q: AWS DAX Client?
How do you manage the DAX from your application? That is through the DAX Client, with this you will have to tweak your code very little to yse DAX along with DynamoDB.
Q: AWS DAX instance types?
We have t-type and r-type instance which is widely used depending on the capacity you need.
Final Thoughts On AWS DAX
Speed is the most desired commodity in the current day and age for application developers, and that is precisely what AWS DAX provides you.
So yes, according to us, DAX can help you make your application the next billion-dollar app as it will provide it the speed it needs to achieve that.
What do you think about AWS DAX? Do you think it is currently the fastest cache solution for application developers, or do you rate another one higher? Let us know in the comments section.
We hope you have learned something new through this Amazon DynamoDb DAX tutorial. Find more relevant blogs in AWS.
- What Is AWS X-Ray
- What Is AWS SQS
- What Is AWS Redshift
- AWS Disaster Recovery
- What Is AWS Step Function
- What Is Amazon QuickSight
- What Are AWS SCT And DMS
- What Is AWS High Availability Architecture
I am an Amazon Web Services Professional, having more than 11 years of experience in AWS and other technologies. Extensively working in various AWS tools like S3, Lambda, API, Kinesis, Load Balancers, EKS, ECS, and many more. Working as a Solution Architect and Technology Lead for Architecting and implementing the same for different clients. He provides expert solutions around the world and especially in countries like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Check out the complete profile on About us.
