30 days of AWS- Part 1: Introduction

#cloud #aws

Have you ever noticed this particular AWS logo looks like a cartoon smiling 😂? Quite disarming

Hello there, welcome to part 1 of 8 of this series: 30 days of AWS as inspired by the cozy cloud crew.

The breakdown of the challenge can be found here.

The tasks for this segment are:

Create a free tier AWS account
Set up billing preferences and budget alerts

Let's get to it.

Create a free tier AWS account

AWS is gracious enough to offer a free tier option that lasts for 12 months from the date of your account creation.

The free tier option is robust enough but does not give access to all their products and services.

Before coming across this challenge, I already had an AWS account. Creating an AWS account is easy peasy. This YouTube video gives clear and detailed steps to follow in creating one.

Set up billing preferences and budget alerts

Money isn’t everything, but it’s right up there with oxygen.
~ Zig Ziglar

Billing preferences and budget alerts are used to:

Set a monthly or yearly budget of what you are willing to spend on AWS
Alert you when you are about to reach your budget or when you exceed your budget.
Track your overall spending.

How to set up billing preferences and create budget alerts

Step 1
From the AWS management console, navigate to the Billing and cost management tool

Step 2
Click on the "Create budget" button on the top right corner

This takes you to the create budget menu. By default, a simplified template is selected of the type "zero spend budget". This budget notifies you once your spending exceeds $0.01, the free tier limit. It ensures you stay under the provisions of the free tier.