This lesson teaches you how to open (create) your AWS account and how to configure it according to best practices as suggested by AWS.
You will use the AWS Console to open and configure your AWS account, and also to create and manage your instance in the next lesson. You can access all AWS services with the AWS Console rather easily through choosing (clicking on) options with the mouse and entering specific data with the keyboard.
Note that there are other means to access AWS services, including (1) the AWS command line interface (CLI), (2) software development kits (SDKs or libraries) for use with a programming language such as Python, Java, JavaScript, etc., and (3) blueprints which are textual descriptions of cloud resources and their dependencies. The main advantage of these methods is that they facilitate the automation of management tasks over multiple resources, as is required in production-like environments. The main disadvantage is that more time is required to learn them.
The rationale for using the AWS Console in this course is twofold: (1) the initial configuration of a new AWS account can only be done through the AWS Console, and (2) you don’t need to automate instance management tasks as you will only be using one or a few AWS instances.