🚀 AWS Day 2: IAM & Access Methods Explained Simply
Saurabh GuptaTable of contents
👋 Hello again, Cloud Learners!
Welcome to Day 2 of my AWS Cloud Learning Journey. Today, I dove into one of the most critical topics in AWS — IAM (Identity and Access Management) and how users interact with AWS securely.
If you’re following my series or just starting, you’re in for a hands-on and beginner-friendly breakdown.
🔐 What Is IAM?
IAM is the security backbone of your AWS account.
It helps manage:
Who can access your AWS resources
What they can do
Where they can do it from
Instead of giving access directly to your AWS root account, IAM lets you create users, assign permissions, group them logically, and apply best practices.
🧩 Key IAM Components
Here’s a quick overview of IAM’s core parts:
ComponentPurposeUsersIndividual identities with credentialsGroupsA collection of users with shared permissionsRolesUsed to delegate access between AWS servicesPoliciesJSON-based permission rules attached to users, groups, or roles.
🛠️ Ways to Access AWS
AWS can be accessed through several interfaces, each useful in different scenarios:
AWS Management Console — Web-based UI
AWS CLI (Command Line Interface) — Great for scripting and automation
AWS SDKs — Use AWS from your favorite language (e.g., Python, JavaScript)
AWS CloudShell — In-browser terminal preloaded with CLI
✅ IAM Best Practices (Every AWS User Should Know)
Following these makes your AWS usage secure and scalable:
🔒 Enable MFA for all users
⚖️ Apply the Least Privilege Principle
🚫 Avoid using the Root Account after setup
🧑🤝🧑 Use Groups for permission management
🔁 Rotate credentials periodically
🤝 Use IAM Roles for service-level access (like EC2 to S3)
📜 Review policies regularly for outdated or over-permissive rules
💡 Key Takeaways
IAM is essential for controlling access and managing security
Always follow best practices to avoid accidental data exposure
There are multiple interfaces to work with AWS — choose what suits your workflow
IAM is not just theory — practice using it in AWS Free Tier!
📄 Additional Resources
📁 My GitHub Repo for Notes & Interview Prep
🔗 https://github.com/Saurabhgupta301/My-AWS-Cloud-Journey
You’ll find:
🗂️ Notes organized by day
📄 PDF of interview questions
📸 Custom visuals from each topic
📌 Interview Questions (Bonus Material)
I’ve started collecting real-world AWS Interview Questions focused on IAM and access controls.
📄 You can download the PDF from GitHub or check the comment section of my LinkedIn post.
👋 Let’s Connect
If you’re also learning or want to share feedback, feel free to reach out:
✨ Coming up next: EC2 — Launching your first AWS server
Stay tuned, and keep building in the cloud! 🌥️💡
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Written by
Saurabh Gupta
Saurabh Gupta
I'm a highly analytical and results-driven Data Analyst with 2 years of experience extracting actionable insights from complex datasets to drive business decisions. In my previous role at C5i, I specialized in developing dashboards, optimizing data collection processes. While I've enjoyed diving deep into data analysis, I'm now actively upskilling and transitioning my career towards Data Engineering and AI/ML Engineering, with a strong focus on AWS Cloud technologies. I'm passionate about building the robust data pipelines and scalable infrastructure that power advanced analytics and machine learning models. My journey into AWS has already begun, where I'm gaining hands-on experience with services like S3 for data lakes and EC2 for compute. I'm eager to leverage my analytical foundation and growing cloud expertise to contribute to innovative projects, ensuring data is not just understood, but efficiently managed and utilized to build impactful AI/ML solutions."