During fall 2010, we updated the CRdata libraries to R version 2.12.1 and Bioconductor version 2.7.

We typically advise users to launch multiple CRdata nodes and perform large-scale data analyses in parallel. However, some CPU-intensive packages would benefit from more powerful processor nodes.

This month, to accommodate users who need more CPU power per node, we have added a High-CPU Instance to our list of available node types.

For the moment, we are providing the following 2 node types, while we explore the use of multiple virtual cores per CRdata node.

Small Instance – m1.small

1.7 GB memory
1 EC2 Compute Unit (1 virtual core with 1 EC2 Compute Unit)
160 GB instance storage
32-bit platform
I/O Performance: Moderate

High-CPU Medium Instance - c1.medium

1.7 GB of memory
5 EC2 Compute Units (2 virtual cores with 2.5 EC2 Compute Units each)
350 GB of instance storage
32-bit platform
I/O Performance: Moderate

CRdata's functionality was reviewed in the August 27th issue of the Canadian Bioinformatics Help Desk newsletter. If you are a new user, you may find this overview useful, see:

http://gchelpdesk.ualberta.ca/news/27aug10/cbhd_news_27aug10.php#spotlight

I have put a copy of my slides outlining our motivations, design principles and plans for CRdata at: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~hbolouri/CRdata_motivationOverview.pdf

Comments and feedback appreciated.

Hamid Bolouri

We now have a CRdata User Forum

This is the link to our new CRdata User Forum

http://groups.google.com/group/crdata-users-forum

You are welcome to join our group and give us feedback on the site.

Ruby on Rails

We are happy to announce that we have released a new version of CRdata that is now based on Ruby on Rails. The older version of our product was based on Python and Django. Ruby on Rails provides many new features that we are excited to share with you. Please stay tuned for updates as we roll out more features. In the meantime, take CRdata for a spin and see what you think.

Welcome To CRdata !

For the past year at Caltech we have been actively developing CRdata with you in mind. We want to create a place on the web where users can integrate their data sets with analysis algorithms. We are starting out with a small set of algorithms but over time we hope to grow the base of available tools, analysis algorithms, graphing options, and cool data visualizations. Let us know what you think about CRdata by sending us an email or commenting on our blog posts. It is a pleasure to have you as a user of CRdata.