Brad Chapman in my group here published his blog – ‘blue collar bioinformatics’ where he describes the progress being made in online accessible cloud instances (private to you) of analytical environments for bioinformatics.
Look for BioCloud Central where users, having established an Amazon account, can fill out a simple entry form and then get biocomputing ASAP.
Connectivity issues apart, we are finding that (cores performing sequencing are happy to directly upload large datasets to the site, and) processing is simplified for users who cannot program but need to set algorithm parameters in pipelines using galaxy (where galaxy might be hidden or exposed.)
The end users – read biologists – really like the freedom, power, control and low cost. Service providers and researchers alike are using these instances here at Harvard to share data and provide consulting on users datasets. The systems are actively being developed and are also useful for teaching.
Win
Want to keep up on the buzz in bioinformatics? Stop by the Harvard Center for Health Bioinformatics news page for weekly updates.
Elements of Impact 