OCI Always Free: The Complete Guide to Unlimited Free Cloud Resources for Students and Startups

What is OCI Always Free?

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Always Free  is a free cloud service program that never expires. Unlike the 30-day Free Trial, Always Free gives you permanent access to compute, database, networking, and storage resources—at no cost! It’s ideal for:

• Students  who want to build a system for their final assignment.
• Research Lecturers  who need infrastructure for data or AI experiments.
• Startups  who want to develop an MVP without a big budget.

Let’s thoroughly explore all the services available at OCI Always Free!

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Complete List of Always Free OCI Resources

1. Compute

• AMD-based VM (VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro):
  • 2 instances  with 1 OCPU (AMD) and 1 GB RAM.
  • Suitable for simple web servers or backend applications.
• Arm-based VM (OCI Ampere A1.Flex):
  • 4 OCPU and 24 GB RAM  per month (total 3,000 OCPU hours and 18,000 GB hours).
  • Example: 2 instances with 2 OCPU & 12 GB RAM each, or 4 instances with 1 OCPU & 6 GB RAM.
  • Tip:  If an  “out of host capacity” error appears , try creating an instance in  another availability domain  or wait a while.
• Block Volume:
  • 200 GB  of storage for  boot volume  or  block volume .
  • Minimum 47 GB per  boot volume .
  • Example: 4 instances with 50 GB each.

2. Database

• Oracle Autonomous Database:
  • 2 free databases  for OLTP, Data Warehouse, or APEX/JSON application development.
  • Suitable for final assignments that require complex data management.
• Oracle NoSQL Database:
  • 3 tables  with 25 GB per table.
  • 133 million read/write operations  per month.
• Oracle HeatWave:
  • 1 HeatWave node  with 50 GB storage + 50 GB backup.
  • Optimal for big data analysis.

3. Networking

• Virtual Cloud Network (VCN):
  • 2 VCNs  with public/private subnets.
  • Note:  Port 25 (email) is blocked by default—submit a special request if necessary.
• Load Balancer:
  • 1 Flexible Load Balancer  (10 Mbps).
  • 1 Network Load Balancer  for traffic distribution.
• Site-to-Site VPN:
  • 50 IPSec connections  to connect local network to cloud.

4. Storage

• Object Storage:
  • 20 GB  to store files, images or application data.
• Archive Storage:
  • 10 GB  for long-term data archiving.

5. Security & Observability

• Vault:
  • 20 encryption keys  (HSM) and  150  free secrets .
• Monitoring & Logging:
  • 500 million data points  for monitoring.
  • 10 GB/month  network logs (VCN Flow Logs).
• Bastion:
  • Secure SSH access to private instances—free and unlimited!

6. Additional Services

• Email Delivery:
  • 3,000 free emails  per month.
• Outbound Data Transfer:
  • 10 TB  of outbound data transfer per month.
• Resource Manager:
  • Automate infrastructure deployment with Terraform.

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How to Maximize Always Free OCI

Tips for Students & Researchers:

1. Free Database for Final Project:
   • Take advantage of  Autonomous Database  to store research data or build web-based applications.
2. Data Analysis with HeatWave:
   • Use HeatWave to process large datasets at no cost.
3. Avoid Idle Instances:
   • An instance is considered  idle  (and can be deleted by Oracle) if within 7 days:
     • CPU Utilization < 20%
     • Network utilization < 20%
     • RAM utilization < 20% (Ampere A1 only).

Tips for Startups:

1. Build MVP with Load Balancer:
   • Hosting applications on 4 Ampere A1 instances + Load Balancer for basic scalability.
2. Take Advantage of NoSQL Databases:
   • Store user data or application logs in NoSQL (25 GB/table).
3. Free Monitoring:
   • Monitor application performance with OCI Observability service.

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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about OCI Always Free

Q: What happens if I exceed the Always Free limit?
A: Excess resources will be charged. However, OCI automatically converts paid resources to Always Free if there is capacity (e.g. after deleting an instance).

Q: Can I change  my home region  after registration?
A: No. Please choose  your home region  carefully when registering, as Always Free is only available in that region.

Q: How do I monitor resource usage?
A: Go to  OCI Console > Governance & Administration > Limits, Quotas and Usage .

Q: Is my data safe in Always Free?
A: Yes! OCI provides free encryption with Vault and enterprise security controls.

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OCI Always Free is  a game-changer  for education and startup businesses. With dozens of free services like database, computing, and networking, you can:

• Build complete web applications at no cost.
• Storing and analyzing small-scale research data.
• Testing startup ideas with enterprise infrastructure.

Don’t miss this opportunity!  Register for an OCI Free Tier account now, select  your home region , and start exploring cloud technology for free.

Visit Official Website
👉  Register OCI Always Free
👉 Study the official guide:  OCI Always Free Documentation

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