What is Spinup?

Owned by Kay Ratanasaka
Last updated: Nov 14, 2023 by Kraig Eisenman
2 min read

Spinup is Yale's answer to the growing demand for cloud services within the academic and research sectors. Developed by Yale's IT Cloud Engineering team, Spinup is designed to meet the specific needs of the Yale community.

Core Features of Spinup

  • Speed: Spinup is fast. Servers can be set up in minutes without any external intervention.

  • User-Friendly: Designed with user experience in mind, Spinup eliminates the need to wade through complex terminologies. With fewer options, users don't feel overwhelmed.

  • Exclusive Yale Benefits:

    • Direct Connect: A dedicated network connection from Yale to AWS ensures faster, private connectivity.

    • Security: Servers on Spinup are protected behind the Yale Enterprise firewall, providing an added layer of protection.

    • Easy Access: Being on the Yale network means easy access to services like mail, directory, and storage shares.

  • Community Support: Spinup users benefit from a supportive community. The Slack chatroom offers help, tips, and guidance from fellow users and developers.

  • Transparent Pricing: There are no hidden costs with Spinup. Users are charged just as they would be on AWS. Moreover, they offer a 'TryIT' free option, renewable every 30 days.

  • Comprehensive Backups: Enjoy peace of mind knowing that Spinup conducts daily backups for servers, retaining data for up to 14 days.

Getting Started with Spinup

  1. Log in to Spinup at https://spinup.internal.yale.edu/. (You will need to be on Yale’s network to connect).

  2. Create a “Space” (See: https://yaleits.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/spinup/pages/470614312 ).

  3. Add an SSH Key to your profile (to connect to servers). (See: https://yaleits.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/spinup/pages/3948937374 )

  4. From your new Space, you can create resources, manage backups of your resources, manage your resources firewell, set budgets, and view costs accruing from the resources.

 

 

Help and Support
For users seeking assistance or looking to expand their Spinup knowledge, a plethora of resources is available. The FAQ section is packed with detailed information, and there are tutorials titled "Getting Started". Moreover, a 'help' option within Spinup offers further guidance.