[BioC] desktop workstation configuration

[Thomas Girke]

This is probably not a topic for this list, but still here are some
suggestions based on my end of the year experience with purchasing 
computer hardware for similar reasons:
 
For NGS analysis I would look into computers with 2 or 4 CPU sockets and
as many as 32 DIMM (memory) slots. These systems are relatively
inexpensive right now and real workhorses for NGS analysis. Roughly, one
machine with 48 cores (4x twelve core CPUs), 64GB of RAM and 6-12TB of
disk space is around $10-12K or about $18K with 256GB of RAM, while 2
CPU socket systems with 32GB of RAM are in the range of $5-6K. Systems
like this are available from various vendors as workstations (most
expensive!) or rack-mountable 1U or 2U servers. If you don't deal with
assemblies of NGS data then 32-64GB of RAM will be probably enough for
most things, but if you do then you can never have enough memory. The
most important hardware component in the NGS field is probably disk
space. If you plan to process a lot of data in your lab then you might
want to consider an attached/centralized storage solution that can grow
over time, but these usually add a lot to the cost (~$8-10K for 24-32TB)
and setup time. Also, since powerful computers are noisy, I would
consider a rack-mountable solution rather than a workstation that you
install in a server room at your university. A server setup is usually
much more cost efficient because many users can use it at the same time.

Thomas

On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 10:34:49AM -0800, Shi, Tao wrote:
> Hi list,
> 
> We're planning to get a new Linux desktop workstation.  I'm wondering what kind 
> of configuration (especially processor, memory, and OS) people are using (no 
> cluster please).  I know it's all about how much money you're willing to spend, 
> but I just want to get a feel on what settings people are happy with for their 
> daily bioinformatics jobs (including NGS data).
> 
> 
> Thank you very much!
> 
> 
> ...Tao
> 
> 
>       
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> 
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