OpenSearch Application Search & Admin Dashboard Platform

The Challenge

An enterprise operations company needed to power their user-facing application and admin dashboards with high-performance search capabilities. While DynamoDB served their transactional database needs, it couldn't provide the fast, flexible search and filtering required for their application features and administrative tools. Key challenges included:

• User-facing application needed fast, flexible search functionality
• Admin dashboards required complex filtering and data exploration
• DynamoDB's limited query patterns insufficient for search use cases
• Need for real-time data availability in search index
• Complex faceted search and aggregation requirements
• Sub-second search response times for user experience
• Scalability for growing user base and data volume

Our Solution

We configured AWS OpenSearch Ingestion for DynamoDB, leveraging AWS's zero-ETL integration to synchronize DynamoDB data to OpenSearch in real-time, powering user-facing search features and admin dashboard analytics.

OpenSearch Ingestion Pipeline Configuration

• Configured AWS OpenSearch Ingestion service
• Set up DynamoDB as source for ingestion pipeline
• Configured OpenSearch Service as destination
• Implemented pipeline YAML configuration
• Set up IAM roles and permissions for secure access
• Configured DynamoDB Streams integration
• Enabled continuous data synchronization

Index Mapping & Schema Design

• Designed OpenSearch index mappings for DynamoDB data
• Created field mappings optimized for search performance
• Implemented text analysis and tokenization configurations
• Designed nested object structures for complex data
• Configured field types for faceted filtering
• Optimized mapping for application query patterns
• Created index templates for consistency

OpenSearch Cluster Architecture

• Architected multi-node OpenSearch cluster
• Designed index lifecycle management (ILM) policies
• Implemented hot-warm-cold architecture for cost optimization
• Created index templates for consistent mapping
• Built index aliases for zero-downtime updates
• Configured cluster settings for performance
• Implemented snapshot and restore procedures

Integration & Data Synchronization

• Configured automatic DynamoDB to OpenSearch sync
• Set up real-time change data capture via DynamoDB Streams
• Implemented initial data load from existing DynamoDB tables
• Configured data transformation rules in pipeline
• Set up monitoring for ingestion pipeline health
• Configured CloudWatch metrics and alarms
• Tested data consistency and synchronization latency

User-Facing Application Search

• Developed fast full-text search for end users
• Built autocomplete and typeahead suggestions
• Implemented faceted filtering for refined results
• Created relevance scoring for search rankings
• Designed fuzzy matching for typo tolerance
• Built geo-spatial search for location-based queries
• Implemented search result highlighting

Admin Dashboard Features

• Built complex filtering and data exploration tools
• Created real-time data views for administrative users
• Implemented advanced aggregation queries
• Designed custom metric visualizations
• Built location-based filtering and analytics
• Created export capabilities for admin reports
• Implemented role-based access to dashboard features

Results

The OpenSearch platform with zero-ETL integration transformed application capabilities:

• Enhanced User Experience: Sub-second search results for application users
• Powerful Admin Tools: Complex filtering and data exploration in dashboards
• Real-Time Synchronization: Automatic DynamoDB changes reflected in search
• Zero-ETL Integration: Managed service eliminating custom pipeline maintenance
• Simplified Architecture: AWS-managed ingestion reducing operational overhead
• Scalable Performance: Fast queries supporting growing user base
• High Availability: Multi-AZ deployment ensuring application uptime

Key Achievements

• Zero-ETL Integration: Leveraged AWS OpenSearch Ingestion for DynamoDB
• Managed Service: Eliminated custom pipeline code and maintenance
• Real-Time Sync: Automatic sub-second data synchronization
• Application Search: Enhanced user experience with powerful search
• Admin Dashboard Power: Advanced filtering and analytics capabilities
• Simplified Operations: AWS-managed infrastructure reducing overhead
• Search Performance: Sub-second response times at scale
• High Availability: Multi-AZ deployment ensuring reliability

Technologies Used

• Source Database: AWS DynamoDB, DynamoDB Streams
• Search Platform: Amazon OpenSearch Service
• Zero-ETL Integration: AWS OpenSearch Ingestion for DynamoDB
• Pipeline Configuration: OpenSearch Ingestion Pipeline YAML
• Index Management: Index Lifecycle Management, Index Templates
• Monitoring: Amazon CloudWatch, OpenSearch Metrics
• Security: IAM Roles, Fine-grained Access Control, Encryption
• Application Integration: OpenSearch APIs, Search Queries
• Cluster Management: Multi-AZ Deployment, Auto-scaling
• Infrastructure: AWS Managed Services, High Availability