AWS RDS – Launching RDS Database Instance for Free

In this article we will look into how you can launch an Amazon RDS database instance that’s covered by the AWS free tier. To do so follow the below steps:

Amazon RDS free tier is available to you only in the first 12 months of your AWS account creation. Each calendar month, the free tier allows you to use the Amazon RDS resources listed below for free :

• 750 hrs of Amazon RDS in a Single-AZ db.t2.micro, db.t3.micro, and db.t4g.micro Instance.
• 20 GB of General Purpose Storage (SSD).
• 20 GB for automated backup storage and any user-initiated DB Snapshots.

Note: When your free usage expires or if your application use exceeds the free usage tier you pay standard pay-as-you-go service rates. Users need to know that not all RDS database engines are available under the AWS free tier.

RDS database engines available under the AWS free tier are as follows:

• MySQL
• MariaDB
• PostgreSQL
• Microsoft SQL Server

RDS database engines available under the AWS free tier do not include the following:

• Amazon Aurora
• Oracle database engines

Now let us look into you how to create a free tier RDS database. To do so follow the below steps:

Step 1: To create an RDS database that’s available under the AWS free tier choose services and then enter RDS to navigate to the RDS console. On the RDS console make sure that you have selected the desired AWS region where you want to create the RDS instances then choose Create database.

Step 2: For Choose a database creation method, selects the method that you want. For this demonstration, we’ll use the Standard create method.

Step 3: For Engine Type choose the engine type you want. For this demonstration, we will use MySQL, but you can choose between MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or Microsoft SQL Server.

Step 4: For the version choose the version of the database engine that you want.

Step 5: For Templates choose Free Tier.

Step 6: For Settings provide the DB instance identifier master username and password.

Step 7: For DB instance class, storage type and allocated storage leave it at default AWS Free tier values which are 

• db.t2.micro
• General purpose(SSD)
• Allocated storage 20 GB

Step 8: For connectivity, database authentication and additional configuration select the option that you want or leave the default configuration.

Step 9: For backup under Additional configuration uncheck enable automatic backups to avoid incurring storage fees for retaining backups of your Amazon RDS instance.

Step 10: Review the estimated monthly cost to be aware of the AWS free tier limits. Then click on Create database.

Now you have successfully created an Amazon RDS database instance that’s covered by the AWS free tier.