Amazon launches scalable database service for apps

Newsbrief: Amazon has launched DynamoDB, a fully-managed, cloud-based database service specifically built to adapt to the scaling issues of web applications and online games as their userbases and needs grow. Though the company has offered cloud-based databases to developers before, DynamoDB is designed to address "the core problems of database scalability, management, performance, and reliability" that can occur as an online game becomes more popular, requiring more data storage and reads/writes per second. Developers can start small with a DynamoDB NoSQL database, and then increase the request capacity of a table as they attract more players to their online game. Amazon then allocates dedicated resources to meet developers' performance requirements, and manages the partitioning of data and traffic across servers. The service takes a number of administration duties out of developers' hands, including "hardware [and] software provisioning, setup and configuration, software patching, [and] operating a reliable, distributed database cluster." DynamoDB features a free tier, and scaling rates depending on developers' needs.