NOT one of those typical AWS Introductions

Do NOT read this if you have lot of money to waste.

Since you’re reading this. I guess you’re not one of the richest man on earth.

Anyway, Welcome to the biggest cloud platform in the world - where you can build websites, mobile apps, backup systems, entire businesses… or just accidentally spend ₹ 2000 because you forgot to turn off a service you didn’t fully understand.

But don’t worry — that’s part of the charm. AWS is powerful, flexible, and honestly kind of addictive once you get the hang of it.

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What even is AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a collection of cloud services that let you build apps, store data, run servers, stream videos, host websites, or just mess around with tech until you break something and cry about it (which you will — and pay that usage bill).

You can use AWS for:

• Hosting websites, mobile apps, or that half-baked startup idea you’ve been sitting on since last year.

• Running enterprise stuff, backup systems, and databases with more layers than a wedding cake.

• Big data analytics, because someone’s got to pretend they understand graphs.

• Online games, because lag in this day and age?

It’s used in industries from banking to Netflix to that one-person startup selling banana-themed NFTs. It’s that versatile.

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But... Before you go click-happy

AWS loves to say “free tier,” but don’t be fooled. Yes, you get 750 hours of EC2 instance usage per month for free in the first 12 months. Cool, right?

AWS used to be generous. It still kind of is…BUT — and it’s a big “but” — starting February 1, 2024, AWS now charges for IPv4 addresses. That’s right, even your tiny virtual server’s IP can now cost you.

Here’s the sad math:

• $0.005/hour for each public IPv4 address

• That’s about $3.60/month if you keep it 24/7

The free IPv4 tier:

• Only applies to EC2 — so don’t think you’re slick deploying a Load Balancer or RDS with a public IP. You’ll be charged for everything else.

• Also, it doesn’t stack across services. One IPv4 = one free ride.

Some tips to avoid crying over your billing dashboard:

• Use IPv6 whenever possible (it’s free and future-friendly).

• Check Amazon VPC IP Address Manager to track your IP usage.

• Click into Public IP Insights in the AWS console to see what’s going on before your wallet does.

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Now let’s talk about who to blame — I mean, shared Responsibility

Now here’s a concept AWS wants you to really understand — because it’s the polite way of saying “If something goes wrong, don’t always blame us.”

Here's how it goes:

What AWS handles (aka the stuff you can’t see or touch anyway):

• Physical stuff like servers, wires, and the buildings they live in.

• Global stuff: regions, zones, and edge locations.

• The hypervisor and the foundational software that runs everything.

• Basically, the stuff you don’t control and can’t mess up (thankfully).

What you handle (aka the stuff that actually breaks):

• Your data — you break it, you fix it.

• Who gets access — IAM roles, users, permissions.

• Network setups — your VPCs, security groups, subnets, firewalls, all that jazz.

• Updates and patches — if you’re running an EC2 instance, AWS won’t magically update your OS. That’s your job unless AWS is managing it. More on that below

• Encryption — yes, your data should be encrypted, and no, it doesn’t do it by itself unless you tell it to.

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Wait, It changes based on what you use? I thought it was just IaaS

Yes. AWS loves to give you freedom — and that includes the freedom to mess up differently based on the type of service you pick:

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AWS is your playground now. Don’t be afraid to break stuff — that’s how you learn. My Hopes and Prayers are with you that you don’t rack up a huge bill.

If you read this and are still awake then how about knowing more about AWS Infrastructure in just 5-minutes

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