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Remediation

To reduce operational costs, migrate DynamoDB tables from higher-cost regions to more cost-efficient alternatives. DynamoDB does not support direct table moves across regions. The recommended approaches are:

  • DynamoDB Global Tables
  • Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)

Migrate Using DynamoDB Global Tables​

  1. Enable streams on the existing table:

    aws dynamodb update-table \
        --table-name {{table-name}} \
        --stream-specification StreamEnabled=true,StreamViewType=NEW_AND_OLD_IMAGES

  2. Add replication to a new region:

    aws dynamodb update-table --table-name {{table-name}} --cli-input-json \
    '{
    "ReplicaUpdates":
    [
        {
        "Create": {
            "RegionName": "{{target-region}}"
        }
        }
    ]
    }' \
    --region {{target-region}}

  3. Once data is synchronized, update applications to use the new region and optionally remove the old replica:

    aws dynamodb update-table --table-name {{table-name}} --cli-input-json \
    '{
    "ReplicaUpdates":
    [
        {
        "Delete": {
            "RegionName": "{{source-region}}"
        }
        }
    ]
    }' \
    --region {{source-region}}

    Note: Validate application functionality and data integrity before decommissioning the original table.

Migrate Using Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)​

  1. Enable PITR on the source table (if not already enabled):

    aws dynamodb update-continuous-backups \
        --table-name {{table-name}} \
        --point-in-time-recovery-specification PointInTimeRecoveryEnabled=true

  2. Restore the table to a new table in the target region using PITR:

    aws dynamodb restore-table-to-point-in-time \
        --source-table-name {{table-name}} \
        --target-table-name {{new-table-name}} \
        --use-latest-restorable-time \
        --region {{target-region}}

  3. Update applications or services to point to the new table in the target region.

  4. Decommission the original table once migration is validated:

aws dynamodb delete-table
--table-name {{table-name}}
--region {{source-region}} ```

**Note**: Validate application functionality and data integrity before decommissioning the original table.