How to Set Up a Secure Multi-Account AWS Structure: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Set Up a Secure Multi-Account AWS Structure: A Step-by-Step Guide A single AWS account for everything is the most common DevOps mistake I see in early-stage companies. This guide shows you how to set up the right account structure from the beginning. ## Why Multiple Accounts? Isolation, security, and cost visibility. When everything is in one account, a mistake in development can affect production. A compromised credential can access everything. Cost allocation requires complex tagging instead of natural account-level separation. Separate accounts give you natural blast radius limits and clear ownership. ## The Recommended Account Structure Root (Management) Account ├── Production Account ├── Staging Account ├── Development Account └── Shared Services Account ├── Centralized logging ├── Security tooling └── CI/CD tooling This is a starting point. Larger organizations add more accounts for specific teams, compliance requirements, or regional isolation. Start here and expand as ne