The First 3 Things Every Student Must Do After Creating an AWS Account
Creating your first AWS account is exciting, but the fear of unexpected charges can be daunting. Before you start experimenting with the cloud, here are three essential steps you must take to secure your account and protect your wallet.
Welcome to the cloud! Getting started with AWS as a student opens up a world of possibilities, from hosting your first website to training machine learning models.
However, many students are terrified of making a mistake and waking up to a massive surprise bill. Before you launch a single EC2 instance or create an S3 bucket, you need to set up your safety nets. Here are the first three things you should do on your new AWS account.
1. Activate Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your Root Account
When you first create your AWS account, you log in using your email address and password. This is your "Root User," and it has absolute power over everything in your account—including the ability to close it or rack up infinite charges.
If a hacker guesses your password, your account is compromised.
- The Fix: Go to the IAM (Identity and Access Management) dashboard immediately. Click on "Add MFA" and link it to an authenticator app on your phone (like Google Authenticator or Authy). Now, even if someone gets your password, they can't get in.
2. Set Up a Zero-Dollar Billing Alarm
The AWS Free Tier is incredibly generous, but it is easy to accidentally exceed the limits or provision a service that isn't covered. You need to know the moment you are charged even a single penny.
- The Fix: Search for AWS Budgets in the console console. Create a new "Cost budget." Set the budgeted amount to $1.00 (or even $0.01 if it lets you) and configure the alert to send you an email when your actual costs exceed 100% of your budget. This acts as your early warning system.
3. Stop Using the Root User
As mentioned earlier, the Root User is too powerful for daily use. AWS best practices dictate that you should lock away the Root User and create a standard "IAM User" for your daily learning and building.
- The Fix: In the IAM dashboard, navigate to Users and click "Add users." Create a user for yourself, enable console access, and attach the
AdministratorAccesspolicy. Log out of your Root account and log back in using this new IAM user.
By taking these three simple steps, you can explore AWS with peace of mind. You’ve locked the front door, set up an alarm, and put the master key in the safe!
What was the first service you tried out on AWS? Let me know in the comments!
Enjoyed reading this content? Let the author know!
Your likes, comments, shares, and saves help creators reach more builders.
Loading recommendations
Loading article