How to Create an AWS Account

A step-by-step guide for creating an AWS Account.

Impact of AWS in Cloud Computing

Amazon Web Services (AWS), by no doubt, is one of the most popular names when it comes to “Cloud Computing”. Since the day of initiation, AWS has been providing top-notch cloud computing products and services. Most importantly, AWS has also been continuously increasing the number of its services, expanding the reach of its services as well enhancing the quality of its services. As a result, today, AWS has become successful in establishing itself as one of the largest and highly trusted cloud services providers, which powers thousands and thousands of businesses, enterprises, startups, and over a million customers in more than 240 countries and territories around the world.

Why Learn AWS?

If we observe the growth of AWS since the day of its establishment, it becomes evident that AWS has been achieving exceptional growth with each passing year. If we look into the recent few years, the growth of AWS has been exponential, and also, considering the outstanding increase in demand of AWS, certainly, the growth is not going to slow down any time soon. Meanwhile, it is also quite obvious that knowing AWS and skills to use AWS services will be highly valuable, not only in the present context but also in the years to come. So, why stay back? Let's take our first step towards the world of AWS by creating an AWS account.

Before going further, I would advise using it to gain a clear understanding of the fundamentals of AWS. For this purpose, you can refer to my previous article through the link provided below:

The Fundamentals of Amazon Web Services

Create an AWS Account

Step 1:

Go to the link https://aws.amazon.com/ and click on the “Create an AWS Account” button present at the top-right corner of your screen.

Step 2:

You will be directed to the page with the “Sign-up” form. Fill up the form correctly and click on the “Continue (step 1 of 5)” button.

Filling up the signup form and clicking “Continue (step 1 of 5)” button to submit the form

Step 3:

On clicking the button, you will be displayed a captcha field for security purposes. Fill up the captcha field correctly and again click on the “Continue (step 1 of 5)” button.

Step 4:

You will be directed to the next form intended to collect your contact information. Fill up the form with your correct contact information (your phone number will be required for verification later), checkmark the check box stating “I have read and agree to the terms of the AWS Customer Agreement” button, and finally, click “Continue (step 2 of 5)” button.

Filling up the contact details and clicking the “Continue (step 2of 5)” button to submit the form

Step 5:

You will be directed to the next form intended to collect the billing information. Fill up your credit card or debit card details, against which you will be billed in the future. Finally, click the “Verify and continue (step 3 of 5)” button.

Note: AWS temporarily holds $1 USD/EUR from your card for 3–5 days to verify your identity, which is released once your identity is verified.

Filling up credit/debit card details and clicking the “Verify and Continue (step 3 of 5)” button to submit the form

Step 6:

You will be directed to the next form intended to confirm your identity. For you to use an AWS account, AWS needs to verify your phone number, for which an automated system of AWS would contact you on your phone via Text message or voice call and provide you the verification code. Hence, fill up the form with your correct phone number, choose how you want to be contacted, fill up the captcha field correctly, and finally, click the “Send SMS (step 4 of 5)” button.

Filling up the phone number and clicking the “Send SMS (step 4 of 5)” button to submit the form

Step 7:

You will be directed to the next form intended to collect the correct verification code sent to your phone number and ultimately verify your identity. Fill up the form with the correct verification code and click the “Continue (step 4 of 5)” button.

Entering the verification code and clicking the “Continue (step 4 of 5)” button to submit the form

Step 8:

You will be directed to the next form intended for you to choose a support plan from three available support plans (Basic Support, Developer Support, and Business Support). At first, go through the details provided by AWS for each support plan and select a Support Plan which best suits your requirement. Finally, click on the “Complete sign up” button.

Choosing a support plan and clicking the “Complete sign up” button to submit the form

Sign Up Completed

Once you click the “Complete sign up” button in the previous step (Step 8), your signup process would complete and you will be directed to the page congratulating you for the successful completion of the Sign Up process. It takes a few minutes for AWS to activate your account. Finally, after the activation process is completed at the AWS end, you will receive an email from AWS with your sign-up confirmation details.

Confirmation email received from AWS after completion of sign up process

Congratulations! You have successfully created your AWS account and you are now eligible to use all AWS services as per your requirement.

AWS Free Tier

AWS provides a valuable benefit for all the new users signing up to AWS, popularly known as AWS Free Tier. When you create an AWS account, you are automatically signed up for the AWS Free Tier, which lets you use numerous AWS services free of charge within certain usage limits. Trust me, for a beginner like you, who has already taken the first step towards exploring and using AWS services by creating an AWS account, AWS Free Tier is an extraordinary gift for you from AWS. It is because AWS Free Tier helps you gain hands-on experience with a range of AWS services at no extra charge. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start exploring AWS.

Important Notes on AWS Free Tier:

★ Your AWS Free Tier eligibility expires at the end of the 12-month period, starting from the day you sign up to AWS. After the expiration of your AWS Free Tier, AWS starts charging you for any AWS services and resources that you are using.

★ You may be even charged during your Free Tier period i.e. first twelve months if your usage of AWS services exceeds the usage limit set by AWS for the Free Tier. Hence, to avoid charges while on AWS Free Tier, please make sure that your usage of AWS services is below the AWS Free Tier Limit.

★ To help you stay within the usage limits, you can track your AWS Free Tier usage and set a billing alarm to notify you once you start exceeding the limit and getting charged.

★ AWS provides usage benefits for several AWS services during the Free Tier on a monthly basis. To be more precise, if you don’t use the full benefits provided by the AWS Free Tier in a given month, the benefits don’t roll over to the next month. So, to fully utilize the benefits of AWS Free Tier, make sure to spend time with AWS each month, trying out the AWS services that you are curious about.

I know that, right now, you are pretty excited and thankful after learning about the AWS Free Tier and can’t wait to explore AWS services, that too free of charge. But, before doing that, I strongly suggest you gain detailed information on AWS Free Tier, for which you can visit the link https://aws.amazon.com/free/.

Conclusion

I guess that you have heard a popular proverb:

“A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step”

This proverb now applies in your case too. Your journey of exploring and using AWS services has already begun with you taking the first step of creating an AWS account. I hope you have a great journey ahead.

Thank you for reading. Happy Cloud Computing!

References

Free Cloud Computing Services - AWS Free Tier

Using the AWS Free Tier

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