Overview of Databricks Premium Platform Access

In this section, we're going to create a Databricks Premium account, and then set up the different types of workspaces inside it.

This is a fairly involved activity — multiple steps, multiple things to configure. So before we dive in, let's walk through what's actually required to get Databricks Premium running on AWS, so you know what's coming.

Where We Left Off

In the previous chapter, we set up a Databricks Free Edition account, and inside it, a serverless workspace. That serverless workspace covers a lot — roughly 70–80% of this course can be practiced entirely on the free edition. Most of your hands-on learning can happen there.

But there are some things that simply aren't possible on the free edition, or on a serverless workspace alone. For those, you'll need a Databricks Premium account on AWS.

What It Takes to Get Databricks Premium on AWS

Getting a Databricks Premium account set up is a multi-step process:

1. Create an AWS account. This comes first — you need your own AWS account before anything else. The next few lectures will walk you through creating and configuring it.
2. Create a Databricks service contract via the AWS Marketplace. This establishes the subscription relationship between your AWS account and Databricks.
3. Create your Databricks account and a serverless workspace. Once the AWS-Databricks relationship is set up, you'll create your Databricks account, and then your first workspace — a serverless one. This is your first real access point into the premium platform. It works almost the same as the serverless workspace you already got on the free edition.
4. Create a Databricks Classic workspace. This is the one thing you can't get on the free edition. We'll walk through creating it next.
5. Clean up your Classic workspace. Once you're done practicing on it, we'll cover how (and why) to clean it up.

That cleanup step matters — a Classic workspace has a daily cost attached to it. If you leave it running for too long, you'll end up paying AWS unnecessarily (this cost goes to AWS, not to Databricks). So we'll cover exactly when and how to clean it up, to keep your costs under control.

Once all of this is done, you'll have all the infrastructure you need to practice everything in this course.

An Optional Path: Watch Instead of Build

Here's something important: you don't have to do any of this yourself.

Since 70–80% of the course works entirely on the Databricks Free Edition, you can get started there right away. For the remaining 15–20% that needs Databricks Premium, you have two options:

Option 1: Watch and learn. Everything in this section is being recorded live, on a real cloud account. If setting up your own Databricks Premium account feels expensive or complicated, you can simply watch the videos and learn from what's demonstrated — without repeating any of it yourself.

Option 2: Set it up yourself and follow along hands-on. If you'd rather practice everything directly, you can create your own Databricks Premium account on AWS. Keep in mind: this will incur some cost. There are free trials available, but you may still end up paying something. Throughout the course, we'll keep pointing out ways to minimize that cost and learn as cheaply as possible.

Both options are completely valid. Creating a Databricks Premium/AWS account is not mandatory for this course — it only matters for that smaller 15–20% slice of the content.

What's Next

In the next video, we'll begin the step-by-step process:

1. Create an AWS account
2. Create a Databricks account
3. Create a serverless workspace
4. Create a classic workspace
5. Clean up

See you there. Keep learning, and keep growing!