AWS Beginner Guide

How to Set Up a Free AWS Account and Start Developing with AWS Services

Step 1: Create Your Free AWS Account

1. Go to the AWS Free Tier Website
   Visit the AWS Free Tier page and click on the “Create a Free Account” button.
2. Sign Up for an AWS Account
   You'll need to enter your email address, create a password, and provide a unique AWS account name. If you don't already have an Amazon account, you can sign up for one during this process.
3. Provide Your Payment Information
   AWS requires a valid credit card to verify your identity, even though the Free Tier is free. However, you will not be charged unless you exceed the Free Tier limits. Rest assured, AWS will notify you before any charges are made.
4. Select a Support Plan
   During registration, you’ll be asked to choose a support plan. For beginners, the Basic Support Plan is sufficient and free of charge.
5. Verify Your Identity
   AWS may require you to verify your phone number by sending a verification code, which you’ll need to enter on the registration page.
6. Complete the Sign-Up Process
   After completing these steps, you’ll receive an email confirming that your AWS account is ready for use.

Step 2: Access the AWS Management Console

Step 3: Explore the AWS Free Tier

• Amazon EC2: 750 hours of t2.micro instances each month for the first 12 months (ideal for running a small virtual machine).
• Amazon S3: 5GB of standard storage and 20,000 GET requests and 2,000 PUT requests each month.
• Amazon RDS: 750 hours of db.t2.micro instances for managed relational databases each month.
• AWS Lambda: 1 million free requests and 400,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month.
• Amazon CloudFront: 50GB of data transfer and 2,000,000 HTTP/HTTPS requests.

Step 4: Set Up Your First AWS Service - Launching an EC2 Instance

1. Launch an EC2 Instance
   • In the AWS Management Console, search for EC2 in the services bar.
   • Click Launch Instance to create a new virtual server.
   • Choose a free tier-eligible AMI (Amazon Machine Image), like Amazon Linux 2 AMI.
   • Select a t2.micro instance type, which is free within the first 12 months.
2. Configure the Instance
   • You can leave most settings at their default values, but make sure to choose a VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) for networking. The default VPC is good for beginners.
   • Under Storage, the default settings should be enough, but you can adjust them if needed.
3. Configure Security Group
   • A security group acts as a virtual firewall to control network access. Create a new security group that allows SSH (port 22) for Linux instances and HTTP (port 80) for web servers.
   • If you're using a Windows instance, allow RDP (port 3389).
4. Launch the Instance
   • Review your configuration and click Launch.
   • When prompted, create a new key pair or select an existing one (the key pair is needed to connect to your instance).
5. Connect to Your EC2 Instance
   Once the instance is running, select it from the EC2 dashboard, and click Connect. Follow the instructions to connect to your instance via SSH (for Linux) or RDP (for Windows).

Step 5: Set Up a Web Application Using Amazon S3 and EC2

1. Upload a Static Website to Amazon S3
   • Go to Amazon S3 in the console and create a new bucket.
   • Upload your website files (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to the bucket.
   • Enable static website hosting in the bucket properties.
   • Set up public access permissions for your website files to be accessible over the internet.
2. Launch an EC2 Web Server
   • Use your EC2 instance to install a web server (e.g., Apache, Nginx).
   • Deploy the website you uploaded to S3 on your EC2 instance by pointing the web server to your files in S3.
   • You can use Elastic IP (a static IP) for your EC2 instance, ensuring that your website remains accessible even if the instance is stopped and restarted.

Step 6: Explore Other Useful AWS Services

• Amazon RDS: Use Amazon RDS to manage relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, or MariaDB for your app’s backend.
• AWS Lambda: Build serverless applications using AWS Lambda for executing code without provisioning or managing servers.
• Amazon DynamoDB: Store NoSQL data in a fast and scalable database.
• Amazon CloudWatch: Monitor the performance of your application and set alarms for resource usage (CPU, memory, etc.).
• Amazon CloudFront: Speed up your website by distributing content globally with AWS’s content delivery network (CDN).

Step 7: Monitor and Manage Your AWS Resources

Conclusion