Some of the answers to your questions really depend on the
requirements of the end users. For instance, what is the primary area
of research (microarray, sequencing, phylogenetics, web database,
etc...)? Each specialized area can have different requirements. You
also need to take into account the applications that they want to run
and what operating systems they are compatible with. If this is going
to be used for processing high throughput sequencing then you might
want to take a look at cloud computing solutions instead of running it
locally (1).
As others have already said, definitely go with a RAID or ZFS (2)
system with some sort of backup system. I generally prefer hardware
RAID cards because they tend to have better performance, support
advanced RAID levels that you usually don't get with software RAID,
and are less susceptible (not immune) to software bugs in my
experience. I've also run into problems with software RAID where it
complicated the use of traditional system rescue tools. Not something
you want to happen when you are in a pinch.
For linux distros I would suggest anything with a long term patch
cycle such as Ubuntu LTS or Centos. If you care to check out ZFS your
choices are FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, or Nexenta (3). Above all else,
remember to check what software your users will want to run and make
sure that it compiles and runs cleanly on your system. Many
bioinformatics packages can be a bit fickle when it comes to different
platforms or even different versions of platforms.
1. The case for cloud computing in genome informatics - Lincoln Stein
(http://genomebiology.com/2010/11/5/207)
2. ZFS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS
3. Nexenta - http://www.nexenta.org/
Good luck!
Josh
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 11:52 AM, Ignasi <ignasilucas@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello.
>
> A colleague is starting his own biology lab in Spain, and he's planning to
> spend between 10,000 and 15,000 € in a computer. He asked me what features I
> think the computer should have. The fact is that I'd like to provide him
> some useful information, because I expect him to give me a job soon. So, I'd
> really appreciate your advise. Anything from hardware brands to operating
> systems will be welcome. Plus, how to spend money in hardware is a subject
> that also interests me personally. Let me give you some more background
> about what the computer may be used for.
>
> I expect between 4 and 10 people to use it at the same time. Most jobs will
> be CPU intensive, but I can also envision some sporadic jobs to require
> several GB of RAM. He also wants to store quite a bit of data there, and
> maybe host a database. I assume that nobody would use it as a desktop, but
> it would be accessed remotely. In principle, the main concern is to make it
> a fast computer.
>
> I've read a little bit about RAID arrays, but never met anybody who used
> them. I'm interested in those configurations where data is mirrored, so that
> the system can tolerate the failure of one of the disks. And I've been
> warned that if all the disks composing the array are of the same brand and
> design, more than one may fail at the same time. Do you think RAID is worthy
> at all, or not necessary with a good back up system? what is better, an
> operating system RAID controller, or a hardware one?
>
> As a biologist who works with computers, I'd like to learn more about this
> topics. Feel free to recommend books, magazines, web sites... that I can use
> to teach myself. Thanks.
>
> Ignasi.
>
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>
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