switch a kinesis data stream between on-demand and provisioned capacity modes safely
domain: docs.aws.amazon.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Call UpdateStreamMode, or use the console, to switch a stream's mode between on-demand and provisioned.
When switching to provisioned mode, explicitly set the desired shard count based on expected throughput.
Plan mode switches around the limit of two switches within any 24-hour period per stream.
Prefer on-demand mode for unpredictable or spiky traffic where you don't want to manage shard counts, and provisioned mode for steady, well-understood throughput where reserved capacity is cheaper.
After switching, confirm downstream KCL consumer applications pick up any shard count changes correctly, since provisioned mode may end up with a different shard count than on-demand auto-scaled to.
Known gotchas
The two-switches-per-24-hours limit applies per stream, so flapping between modes to chase cost savings can lock you out of further changes until the window resets.
Switching modes doesn't necessarily preserve the exact shard count or topology, which can affect KCL lease assignments and per-shard consumer parallelism after the switch.
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