Getting Started with AWS

To get started, an AWS account is needed. Anyone can create an account on aws.amazon.com and get started instantly.

A credit card is compulsory to create an account.

Once the account is created, the name and other details can be changed via Account Settings from the top right menu in the AWS Console Dashboard.

Identity Access Management (IAM)

AWS has a feature to manage multiple users in the same account. These users are called IAM users and can have different roles and permissions, which AWS calls groups and policies.

IAM users can be created by searching IAM in the top search bar and clicking on IAM under the services section. Doing this within an account is good practice.

AWS Region Selector

Certain services in AWS are region-dependent. For example, EC2 instances can be created in different locations.

However, this is not true for every service in AWS. Services like Cloudfront, S3 Buckets, etc. are not created in any one specific region.

The active region can be changed from the top right dropdown (besides the Account menu). If any service created does not appear in the dashboard, the wrong region selection could be an issue.

Over Billing Story

There are multiple stories about AWS overbilling rumored in the market. They are true.

Since AWS has a Pay as you Go policy, there are no monthly or annual costs. AWS charges for services according the usage. If an instance costs $1 per hour, the total amount for 2 instances in one hour would be $2.

If there are services that are created by mistake, or left on for a long time, it affects the billing. Even the default values while creating an instance should be noted carefully. Sometimes, larger variants are selected by default whereas smaller variants could be enough.

There are multiple AWS services to control the budget. Services like Budget Alerts and Billing Alarm could be used to control the spending on AWS.

There is also a free tier available. Visit the AWS pricing website for more details.