AWS Free Tier

Question

Explore AWS Free Tier and get started with Amazon Web Services for free. Enjoy 12 months of free access to over 60 popular AWS services including EC2, S3, RDS, and more. Perfect for startups, developers, and businesses to innovate without upfront costs.

Answer 1

AWS Free Tier: A Comprehensive Guide

The AWS Free Tier provides a limited quantity of AWS services free of charge for a year to new AWS customers. It's an excellent way for beginners to explore and experiment with AWS without incurring costs.

1. Overview of AWS Free Tier

1.1 Types of Free Offers

AWS Free Tier offers three types of free offers:

1. Always Free: Services that are free within certain limits for all customers.
2. 12 Months Free: Services that are free for the first 12 months following your AWS sign-up date.
3. Trials: Short-term free trials of specific services.

1.2 Key Services in AWS Free Tier

• Amazon EC2: 750 hours per month of t2.micro or t3.micro instances.
• Amazon S3: 5 GB of standard storage.
• Amazon RDS: 750 hours per month of db.t2.micro instances.
• Amazon DynamoDB: 25 GB of storage and up to 200 million requests per month.
• Amazon Lambda: 1 million free requests and 400,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month.

2. Setting Up AWS Free Tier

2.1 Creating an AWS Account

1. Go to the AWS Free Tier page.
2. Click on "Create a Free Account."
3. Follow the steps to complete your account setup, including entering billing information (credit card required for identity verification).

2.2 Accessing AWS Management Console

1. Once your account is created, log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. You can now access and manage AWS services.

3. Example Use Cases and Code

3.1 Amazon EC2

3.1.1 Launching an EC2 Instance

Here is a step-by-step guide and example code to launch an EC2 instance using the AWS CLI.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Install AWS CLI: Follow the installation instructions for your operating system from the AWS CLI documentation.
2. Configure AWS CLI: Use the following command to configure your CLI with your credentials:

   aws configure

3. Launch an EC2 Instance: Use the following command to launch a t2.micro instance:

   aws ec2 run-instances \
     --image-id ami-0abcdef1234567890 \
     --count 1 \
     --instance-type t2.micro \
     --key-name MyKeyPair \
     --security-group-ids sg-123abc12 \
     --subnet-id subnet-6e7f829e

3.2 Amazon S3

3.2.1 Creating an S3 Bucket

Here is a step-by-step guide and example code to create an S3 bucket using the AWS SDK for Python (boto3).

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Install Boto3: Use pip to install boto3:

   pip install boto3

2. Create an S3 Bucket:

   import boto3
   
   # Create an S3 client
   s3 = boto3.client('s3')
   
   # Create a bucket
   bucket_name = 'my-unique-bucket-name'
   s3.create_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)

3.3 Amazon RDS

3.3.1 Creating an RDS Instance

Here is a step-by-step guide and example code to create an RDS instance using AWS CLI.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Create a DB Subnet Group: This is necessary for launching an RDS instance.

   aws rds create-db-subnet-group \
     --db-subnet-group-name mydbsubnetgroup \
     --db-subnet-group-description "My DB Subnet Group" \
     --subnet-ids subnet-12345678 subnet-87654321

2. Launch an RDS Instance:

   aws rds create-db-instance \
     --db-instance-identifier mydbinstance \
     --db-instance-class db.t2.micro \
     --engine mysql \
     --allocated-storage 20 \
     --master-username admin \
     --master-user-password password \
     --vpc-security-group-ids sg-123abc12 \
     --db-subnet-group-name mydbsubnetgroup

3.4 Amazon DynamoDB

3.4.1 Creating a DynamoDB Table

Here is a step-by-step guide and example code to create a DynamoDB table using AWS CLI.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Create a DynamoDB Table:

   aws dynamodb create-table \
     --table-name MyTable \
     --attribute-definitions \
       AttributeName=Id,AttributeType=N \
     --key-schema \
       AttributeName=Id,KeyType=HASH \
     --provisioned-throughput \
       ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5

3.5 AWS Lambda

3.5.1 Creating a Lambda Function

Here is a step-by-step guide and example code to create a Lambda function using AWS CLI.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Create a Lambda Function:

   zip function.zip lambda_function.py
   
   aws lambda create-function \
     --function-name myFunction \
     --runtime python3.8 \
     --role arn:aws:iam::account-id:role/execution_role \
     --handler lambda_function.lambda_handler \
     --zip-file fileb://function.zip

4. Monitoring Free Tier Usage

4.1 AWS Billing and Cost Management Dashboard

1. Access the Billing Dashboard: Navigate to the Billing and Cost Management Dashboard in the AWS Management Console.
2. Set Up Billing Alerts: Configure billing alerts to monitor your usage and avoid unexpected charges.

The AWS Free Tier is a powerful tool for new users to explore AWS services without financial risk. By following the step-by-step guides and using the example codes provided, you can start experimenting with various AWS services today. Remember to monitor your usage to stay within the Free Tier limits.

Answer 2

FAQs on AWS Free Tier

Q: What is the AWS Free Tier?

A: The AWS Free Tier is a program that offers free access to AWS services for a specified period. It includes three types of offers:

• 12 Months Free: Access to a set of AWS services for free for 12 months following your AWS sign-up date.
• Always Free: These services are free to use indefinitely, within the specified usage limits.
• Trials: Short-term free trials of certain AWS services.

Q: What services are included in the AWS Free Tier?

A: Some of the popular services included are Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, AWS Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon CloudFront. The specific services and limits can be found on the AWS Free Tier page.

Q: How do I sign up for the AWS Free Tier?

A: You can sign up for an AWS account on the AWS Free Tier page. Upon creating an account, you'll automatically be enrolled in the Free Tier program.

Q: Will I be charged if I exceed the Free Tier limits?

A: Yes, if you exceed the usage limits of the Free Tier, you will be billed at the standard rates for the additional usage. It's important to monitor your usage to avoid unexpected charges.

Q: How can I track my Free Tier usage?

A: You can track your usage using the AWS Billing and Cost Management Dashboard, which provides detailed information on your Free Tier usage and alerts you if you are nearing the limits.

Q: What happens after the 12-month Free Tier period ends?

A: After the 12-month period, the services that were part of the 12 Months Free offer will be billed at standard rates if you continue to use them. The Always Free services will remain free as long as you stay within the specified usage limits.

Important Interview Questions and Answers on AWS Free Tier

Q: What is the AWS Free Tier?

The AWS Free Tier is a program that provides free access to various AWS services up to certain limits for new and existing customers. It consists of three types:

• 12-month Free Tier: Available for the first 12 months after you create your AWS account.
• Always Free: Offers access to specific AWS services with no time limit.
• Trials: Short-term free trials for specific services.

Q: Which services are included in the AWS Free Tier?

Some of the commonly used services included in the AWS Free Tier are:

• Amazon EC2: 750 hours of t2.micro or t3.micro instances per month.
• Amazon S3: 5 GB of standard storage.
• Amazon RDS: 750 hours of db.t2.micro or db.t3.micro instances per month.
• Amazon DynamoDB: 25 GB of storage and 25 units of read and write capacity.

Q: How do you monitor your AWS Free Tier usage to avoid unexpected charges?

You can monitor your AWS Free Tier usage using:

• AWS Billing and Cost Management Dashboard: Provides a summary of your current usage and forecasted costs.
• AWS Budgets: Set custom budgets to alert you when your usage exceeds a certain threshold.
• AWS Cost Explorer: Visualize and analyze your usage patterns.

Q: Provide an example of launching an EC2 instance using AWS Free Tier.

Here's a step-by-step example of launching an EC2 instance using the AWS Management Console:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the EC2 Dashboard.
3. Click on 'Launch Instance'.
4. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI): Select "Amazon Linux 2 AMI".
5. Choose an Instance Type: Select "t2.micro".
6. Configure Instance Details: Leave default settings.
7. Add Storage: Leave default (8 GB General Purpose SSD).
8. Add Tags: Optional.
9. Configure Security Group: Create a new security group with SSH access (port 22).
10. Review and Launch: Review the instance details and click "Launch".
11. Select a Key Pair: Choose an existing key pair or create a new one.

Here's an example using the AWS CLI:

aws ec2 run-instances --image-id ami-0abcdef1234567890 --instance-type t2.micro --key-name MyKeyPair --security-groups MySecurityGroup

Q: How do you create an S3 bucket using AWS Free Tier?

Here's a step-by-step example of creating an S3 bucket using the AWS Management Console:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the S3 Dashboard.
3. Click on 'Create Bucket'.
4. Configure Bucket Details:
   • Bucket Name: Enter a unique name.
   • Region: Select a region.
5. Set Permissions: Configure bucket permissions as needed.
6. Review and Create: Review the settings and click "Create Bucket".

Here's an example using the AWS CLI:

aws s3 mb s3://my-unique-bucket-name

Q: Explain the Always Free usage limits for AWS Lambda.

AWS Lambda Always Free usage limits include:

• 1 million free requests per month.
• 400,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month.

Q: How do you deploy a Lambda function using the AWS CLI?

Here's an example of deploying a Lambda function using the AWS CLI:

1. Create a deployment package (assuming you have a lambda_function.py):

zip function.zip lambda_function.py

2. Create an IAM Role with the necessary permissions:

aws iam create-role --role-name lambda-ex --assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json

3. Attach the AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole policy to the role:

aws iam attach-role-policy --role-name lambda-ex --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/service-role/AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole

4. Create the Lambda function:

aws lambda create-function --function-name MyFunction --zip-file fileb://function.zip --handler lambda_function.handler --runtime python3.8 --role arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/lambda-ex

Q: What are the limitations of the AWS Free Tier?

The AWS Free Tier has the following limitations:

• Time-bound services: Some services are free only for the first 12 months.
• Usage limits: Each service has specific limits (e.g., 750 hours of EC2, 5 GB of S3 storage).
• Specific instance types: Only certain instance types (e.g., t2.micro) are free.

Q: How do you secure your AWS Free Tier resources?

To secure your AWS Free Tier resources:

• Use IAM roles and policies: Apply the principle of least privilege.
• Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Add an extra layer of security.
• Set up CloudTrail: Monitor and log account activity.
• Use Security Groups and Network ACLs: Control access to your instances.

Q: Provide an example of setting up AWS Budgets to monitor your Free Tier usage.

Here's how to set up an AWS Budget:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to the Billing Dashboard.
3. Click on 'Budgets' in the left navigation pane.
4. Click on 'Create a Budget'.
5. Select 'Cost Budget':
   • Set the budget name: "Free Tier Budget".
   • Specify the period: Monthly.
   • Set the budgeted amount: Enter $0 (or a small amount to cover minor overages).
6. Set Alerts:
   • Set up email notifications: Receive alerts when your usage exceeds 80%, 100%, or 120% of the budget.
7. Review and Create: Review the settings and click "Create Budget".