Hi everybody - I'm conducting an informal survey on user trends for bioinformatics Linux clusters for BioInform newsletter and I'm looking for as much input as possible. The set of questions below has already been sent out to around 40 people who use Linux clusters for bioinformatics. If anyone on this list has a few minutes to add their two cents, that would be really helpful. Feel free to forward this e-mail to anyone else you know of who may be interested in participating. I'll post the results to this list once the article comes out - probably in about two weeks. Here's the questions (please respond directly to btoner@genomeweb.com): - How long have you had your Linux cluster running? - How many nodes was your cluster originally? How many nodes is it now? Do you have plans to add more in the future? - Did you build your cluster yourself or use an independent consultant or hardware vendor (If so, please specify who)? - What type of processors make up your cluster? - What type of distributed resource management software (ie, LSF, PBS, Sun Grid Engine) do you use? - What bioinformatics/life science applications do you run on the cluster? Has this changed at all in the time you've had it running? - Do you use a parallel Blast application? If so, which one (ie, BeoBlast, NBlast, Blackstone PowerBlast, TurboBlast, Paracel Blast)? - Is the price/performance of your Linux cluster better or worse than you expected it to be? Please elaborate, if possible. - Is the total cost of ownership of your Linux cluster (including air conditioning/cooling, sys-admin costs, downtime, footprint, etc.) better or worse than you expected it to be? Please elaborate, if possible. - Overall, what are the biggest advantages to using a Linux cluster in bioinformatics? What are the biggest drawbacks? - What future improvements would be on your wish list for Linux cluster technology for bioinformatics applications? All responses will be treated as confidential. If you're willing and have the time to discuss any of these questions further, please let me know what day and time would be most convenient for a follow-up discussion. Thanks in advance to all - Bernadette Toner ...................................... Bernadette Toner Editor, BioInform GenomeWeb LLC 212-651-5636 btoner@genomeweb.com www.bioinform.com