RONIN FAQs

RONIN is a revolutionary web application built on foundational AWS building blocks to robustly bring users access to the almost unlimited capacity of the cloud via an intuitive and user-friendly interface.

We developed the RONIN platform in an effort to lower the bar of entry to cloud computing by simplifying the way cloud resources are procured, configured and consumed. RONIN turns complex actions into simple button clicks so that users of all skill levels can easily create, manage, connect to, and monitor their cloud resources in a secure way.

While RONIN may look like SaaS, it is actually an orchestration that is deployed to your AWS account. This provides a number of benefits, most namely that your data and cloud resources always remain under your control and custody. It also means RONIN is great at break-ups - if you unfortunately ever decide you don't want RONIN in your life anymore, you are left with a beautifully organised AWS account you can continue to manage manually.

RONIN has been designed so that even the most novice users and administrators with no prior cloud experience can use and manage RONIN. This is because RONIN automates a lot of the tricky cloud concepts including networking, permissions, security groups, bucket policies, budget tracking etc. Typically, a single 1.5hr admin or user training session is all that is required to feel confident in being an administrator or a user of the platform respectively.

RONIN can typically be installed within an AWS account in a matter of hours, though we do set a window of 48 hours to allow time for the cost-allocation tags to appear and for budget information to start tracking correctly. Prior to installation we provide you with a build sheet where you can specify the configuration and build requirements for your RONIN and we will work with you to ensure these meet your required level of security and compliance.

Yes, our RONIN Isolate product was designed specifically to protect sensitive data/workloads by meeting your required level of security and compliance. RONIN Isolate provides a Trusted Research Environment (TRE) and Secure Data Environment (SDE) platform that is architected to support even the most stringent security and compliance needs.

RONIN is currently offered as an annual per-seat licence, with discounts offered to Research and Educational Institutions. We do not apply any additional prices on top of your AWS consumption and licenses are based on floating tiers of users (not named users). Optional RONIN add-ons can be applied on top of the license where required.

RONIN can be purchased and renewed directly through the AWS marketplace in your AWS account. This often simplifies the procurement process as RONIN does not need to be approved as an external vendor and the license will be billed as part of your monthly AWS bill. We can however go through an internal process when required.

Yes, since RONIN is just an orchestration engine deployed within your AWS account, there are a number of AWS services that are compatible with RONIN straight out of the box. For example, Cost Explorer uses RONIN's tagging structure to provide you with granular billing and usage reports, CloudWatch can provide real-time logs and metrics for all RONIN resources, and Systems Manager can be used for fleet management, including the patching of RONIN machines.

RONIN is also compatible with a variety of AWS account security services including Trusted Advisor and GuardDuty, and can be compatible with cross-account services like Control Tower and Landing Zone (so long as there are no rules that prevent RONIN automation). Most other AWS services can typically be used outside of RONIN in the same account so long as they do not interact with any of the RONIN infrastructure - we are happy to provide guidance on this where ncecessary.

Yes, any credits or discounts for volume, reserved instances, savings plans or other discounted rates can be applied to the AWS account RONIN resides in. Users will be shown the standard pricing for all of their cloud resources (i.e. they will not be able to see any credits or discounts), the discounts will instead flow through to the monthly AWS bill for the RONIN account.

Yes, RONIN provides a cloud credit scheme whereby you can pre-purchase a nominated amount of cloud usage for RONIN to manage for you. RONIN will invoice you for the nominated amount and then we will manage your AWS account and pay your monthly bill until the credits run out. RONIN will also provide monthly reports outlining a per-project breakdown of the credits used and total remaining, which can be topped up at any time.

RONIN offers anuual administrator training and user training as part of our license. We also provide public and private slack channels where users can have direct access to the entire RONIN team, plus the entire RONIN community to ask questions, request new features, or report any issues. Our blog site contains step-by-step tutorials for every screen and action in RONIN, as well as materials covering cloud best practices, linux system administration, installation and configuration of popular software stacks and much more. A support ticketing system is also available.