The AWS sign up

If you are new to AWS and want to make use of the free tier that AWS provides, then simply visit https://aws.amazon.com/ and Create a Free Account. This is the best way to get started with AWS. The sign-up process is not complicated; it just involves entering your details and credit card. Though you select the free tier, the process would prompt you to enter your credit card details. I feel AWS is just keeping the details for an individual identity purpose and nothing else. AWS won't charge your credit card for the free tier if you are using free tier services only. If you provide an expired credit card or cancelled credit card, the AWS account will not be activated. Otherwise, you have the AWS dashboard ready for you straight away to get started.

At the time of writing this book, I noticed the following screen, and this is always changing, but the web address is same all the time. So, just remember the preceding web address.

During the process, you will also receive an automated phone call from AWS, which will prompt you to enter the four-digit PIN displayed on the screen. As soon as you enter it, your account will be activated and you will see the AWS dashboard in front of you. I also noticed that AWS keeps changing the look and feel of the dashboard. You can set your dashboard by AWS Services or Categories.

Click on Show Categories and see what you get.

As I hinted at earlier, you must review the free tier details before you spin up EC2 servers for your testing. Only t2.micro instances are covered under the free tier categories and not others. This may not be suitable all the time for your test installation and testing, as you would be restricted by instance memory. A t2.micro instance provides just 1 GB of RAM and some application installations need more than that.