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RONIN Cloud*

Owned by nathan butterworth
Last updated: Jul 19, 2024
2 min read

*Note: there is ongoing initiative called the “Research Cloud” which this “Ronin Cloud” has been referred to historically.

What is it

RONIN is an interface for creating virtual machines in the AWS cloud. The simplified user interface allows you to quickly turn-on new machines that are appropriate for your workload, use them, and destroy them when you are finished. The agile workflow allows you to accelerate your time to research and help observe costs. Ronin Cloud is ideally suited to research projects where demand for computing resources in intermittent.

Sydney University users can read more at the knowledge hub: Home>Knowledge>Technology (Knowledge Base)>Research services>What is Ronin Cloud?

 

Prefer to learn this via video? Here is a ~45 minute demo:

https://youtu.be/hsmqKmckU_M

How to get an account

Fill in a project initiation request. We have a strict user license limit which are given out on a merit based system. You can buy additional resources as required.

The following steps are normally involved is setting up a new research project:

  • Initial consultation will outline the capabilities of Ronin Cloud and determine whether it may be suitable

  • Four-week trial to validate technical and financial aspects

  • Continue if technically / financially viable

How much does it cost

Cost depends on the processing + storage resources consumed.

  • Processing charges range between 5c/hr (1cpu,2gb RAM) up to $39.00/ hr (64cpu/8gpu/768gb RAM). Note: charges only apply when the machines are turned on.

  • Storage charges vary from 5c/gb/month -> 19c/gb/month depending to type of storage used

  • Copying data from the Ronin cloud to the University RDS (data regress) costs ~15c/gb (i.e. $150 per terabyte)

Note that research projects may qualify for research credits awarded by AWS, these applications are assessed each quarter. Contact sih.info@sydney.edu.au

 

How to access your account

You must be logged into the University VPN or on the University network to access VMs created in Ronin and to access the Ronin dashboard.

You can log in to the Ronin dashboard with your unikey and password at:

https://ronin.sydneyuni.cloud/login.php

 

Usage

All of the following is covered in great and advanced detail over at the RONIN blog page.

https://blog.ronin.cloud/

Here we list some of the basic connection use cases.

Machine Management Learn how to create new virtual machines, turn them off, and destroy them.

Connecting to your machine Learn how to connect to your machine and interact with it.

Optimising Costs Learn tips and tricks to minimise cloud costs.