Working with DynamoDB Local and Global Indexes

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Working with DynamoDB Local and Global Indexes

In this lab, we will explore local and global secondary indexes in DynamoDB and investigate their impact on performance and capacity unit usage. An existing unindexed table is provided, and we will create a new table with local and global secondary indexes. Load the same dataset into our new table with a provided data loader. Then use a test utility to observe the performance and capacity differences when performing read operations against tables with and without indexes. **Note:** Please use the `us-east-1` region for this lab.

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Sep 23, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Create a New Table with Local and Global Secondary Indexes
- Log in to the AWS Management Console for the lab environment at the provided URL with the supplied credentials. Note: Use the us-east-1 region for this lab.
- Create a new DynamoDB table named album_indexed with a partition key of artist_id and a sort key of id. Add a local secondary index for the format attribute, and create a global secondary index for the title attribute.
Challenge

Log In to the EC2 Instance and Load Data into Your Newly Created Table
- Log in to the provided EC2 instance with the provided IP and credentials.
- Run the index_table_load command to load data into your table.
Challenge

Verify the Table Contents and Test Querying Against the Indexes You Created
- Return to the AWS Management Console and verify the data has been loaded to the album_indexed table.
- Test querying against the title and format indexes.
Challenge

Run the Provided Test Utility and Observe the Results
- Return to the provided EC2 instance, run the provided records_query command, and observe the results of the scan/filter against the album table and query against the album_indexed table.

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