Some things to know about your new AWS account
Cloud computing goes hand in hand with maker projects that require data processing and data storage, and Amazon Web Services, aka AWS, is a good choice for a cloud platform. AWS actually invented the cloud computing , infrastructure as a service business.
Before you register, there are some things to prepare and some things to know.
1. Eligible students do not need a credit card to try AWS
AWS Educate Starter account gives students and educators free access to some services without requiring a credit card for payment. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/aws-educate-starter-account/
You must have an address in a domain that is associated with an educational institute or school. Ownership of the account and its resources can be transferred to your private email before you leave the organization, but you will have to provide a payment method. Therefore, my recommendation for students on AWS is the opposite from my recommendation for students on GCP. Leverage your student credentials, just don’t forget to change account ownership if you want to retain your projects after graduation.
2. You need a valid credit card and a valid phone number
The phone is required to validate your identity, and the credit card must be in place even if you do not plan to exceed your free credits.
3. You can get a $300 voucher to try out AWS.
As of October 2022. Unlike Google that gives a similar credit to any new account, the AWS credit is conditional. You have to first create an account and then fill this form. This amount is to be spent in the first 180 days of a new account, so plan your work accordingly.
4. AWS has a free usage tier
Some AWS products have a free usage tier for the first 12 months. Some AWS products can be used for free every month, even after the initial period ends. For example, you get 5GB of free S3 cloud storage. The free tier is just enough to help you learn the platform, and just enough for an enthusiastic hobbyist. The actual numbers can vary, so get the up to date information here https://aws.amazon.com/free/
5. Before you do anything else — create a budget alert
It is incredibly easy to spend much, much more money than you planned to. Forgotten test instances, autoscaling gone wild, misconfigurations and simple miscalculations can cost you literally thousands of dollars if not checked as soon as possible. Just remember that most resources are billed by the hour, so it is OK to try out stuff, as long as you remember to turn it off when you are done. So before you launch your first VM, and before you create your first cloud function, create a budget alert. You should know how much you are willing to spend on your cloud computing activity.
6. It is a good time to improve account security
Your account security is no longer only about possible identity breach. When you have an AWS account in working order, hackers have a higher incentive to try and abuse your account and credit card. If someone takes over your AWS account, you will stand to lose a lot of money, probably thousands of dollars. So while a budget alert will notify you of a problem, the few hours that may pass until you are on top of the issue are critical. Not to mention the legal liability if your account is used to distribute illegal content.
The first thing to do is to add Multi Factor Authentication to your AWS root user. To do that, go to your security credentials page as shown in this screenshot.
Now is also a good time to add MFA to your email account, to add a password protected auto lock to your PC and on your smartphone, to enable Bitlocker on your windows laptop or FileVault on your Mac, and to get some decent antivirus software.
7. For even more security, utilize IAM users
Each AWS account has a root user, the owner of the account. But it is not good practice to use the owner credentials for regular account maintenance. It is even less recommended to share the root account credentials when you need collaborators. Use IAM users instead.
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