What is DAX?
Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) is a fully managed, in-memory cache specifically built for DynamoDB.
It reduces read latency from milliseconds → microseconds
It's like giving your DynamoDB a nitro boost!
No need to write caching logic — DAX handles it automatically.
Think of DAX like Redis, but tightly integrated and purpose-built for DynamoDB.
How DAX Works (Under the Hood)
Instead of your app hitting DynamoDB directly, it hits the DAX cluster endpoint, which:
- Checks if the data is in the cache
- If yes: returns super-fast from memory 💨
- If no: fetches from DynamoDB → stores in cache → returns to your app
All of this happens automatically — no manual cache-aside logic required.
DAX vs ElastiCache vs Manual Caching
| Feature | DAX | ElastiCache (Redis) | Manual Cache-aside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | DynamoDB only | General purpose | Any DB |
| Setup | Seamless | Manual setup | You write it |
| TTL (Expiration) | Built-in | Built-in | You manage it |
| Speed | Microseconds | Microseconds | Depends |
| Complexity | Very low | Medium | High |
Use Cases for DAX
DAX shines in read-heavy workloads, like:
- 🛒 E-commerce product catalogs
- 👤 User profile services
- 🕹️ Gaming leaderboards
- 📱 Social media feeds
- ⚡ High-throughput apps (millions of reads/sec)
When NOT to Use DAX
- Write-heavy workloads → DAX doesn't accelerate writes
- You need advanced cache logic (custom TTLs, pub/sub, streams) → use ElastiCache
- You're already using a global or complex multi-source cache
Example Architecture
Your App
|
|—> DAX Cluster Endpoint
|
|—[Cache Hit?]—→ Return data fast 💨
|
|—[Cache Miss]—→ DynamoDB → Store in DAX → Return
Just switch your DynamoDB SDK client to a DAX-enabled SDK — that’s it. No extra code needed.
Security, Scaling & HA
- Runs inside your VPC
- Supports IAM roles & KMS encryption
- Multi-AZ deployments for fault tolerance
- Horizontally scalable (add more nodes)
Monitoring with CloudWatch
You get rich metrics like:
- Cache hit rate
- Evictions
- Request latency
- Item fetch count
Set up CloudWatch alarms to catch dips in performance before they hurt your app.
DAX in One Minute
| What | In-memory cache layer for DynamoDB |
|---|---|
| Setup | Minimal – AWS handles most of it |
| Speed | Microsecond read latency |
| Use for | Read-heavy, low-latency apps |
| Not for | Complex cache logic or write-heavy apps |
| Pricing | Pay per node hour (plus data transfer) |
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