There are several choices for using Galaxy. This page describes using Galaxy on a cloud infrastructure using CloudMan (see below). For other options, see the Galaxy Platform Directory and Cloud.
About Galaxy CloudMan
Galaxy CloudMan enables Galaxy to be quickly setup on cloud computing resources. CloudMan is a Cloud Manager that orchestrates all of the steps required to provision, configure, manage, and share Galaxy on a cloud computing infrastructure using just a web browser. An instance of Galaxy CloudMan behaves like a private instance of Galaxy and offers the benefits of cloud computing resource availability, elasticity and pay-as-you-go resource ownership model.
Galaxy available via CloudMan comes pre-configured with the production settings and is ready for processing data as soon as it is launched. The process of using Galaxy CloudMan requires a virtual server to be launched on a cloud provider, which only takes a few minutes. Once launched, CloudMan sets up a virtual cluster on the created server that can be dynamically scaled to meet the current computational demand. Once the need for the compute resources subsides, the acquired server(s) can be shut down. With such a paradigm, one pays only for the resources they need and use.
When to use Galaxy CloudMan
The following is a non-exhaustive list of scenarios when it is beneficial to use Galaxy on the Cloud:
- Do not want to spend time setting up a Galaxy instance
- Need to customize a Galaxy instance with new tools or genome reference data
- Have run up against the quotas on a public server
- Have variable or high requirements for compute or storage resources
Getting started
To start your own Galaxy CloudMan, see the Getting Started page.
Determining the size of your cloud cluster
Cloud computing allows your cloud cluster to be variable in size and capacity. See this page for some guidelines on how to decide what is right for you.
Customizing your cloud cluster
If you are interested in running your own version of Galaxy and/or tools on the cloud while utilizing all the automation and functionality provided by CloudMan, this page explains how to do it.
A note about costs
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pay-as-you-go service that requires a valid credit card before resources can be acquired. Rates for Amazon EC2 can be found here. To see how much using Amazon cloud might cost, you can use the AWS cost calculator. When calculating the total cost, in addition to the EC2 instance(s), you will have data volumes associated with your cluster where all of your Galaxy data will be stored.
Community cloud providers, such as the Jetstream cloud in the US or the NeCTAR cloud in Australia offer free access to cloud resources but require an active project allocation for which ones needs to apply.
Galaxy AMIs
Current AMI:
- AMI: ami-3be8cd2c
- Name: Galaxy CloudMan 161101b2 (active dates: 2016-11-01 -> present)
Note that the current AMI represents the environment required to run CloudMan (in the format of a machine image) and the machine image release date does not represent the most recent update or version of either CloudMan or Galaxy. Versions of those tools can be seen (and automatically updated, with the Update button in the CloudMan Admin page) once an instance has been instantiated (we are also looking into a more explicit form of making this information available).
Deprecated AMIs
- AMI: ami-b45e59de
- Name: Galaxy-CloudMan-1457720469 (active dates: 2016-03-24 -> 2016-11-01)
- AMI: ami-d5246abf
- Name: Galaxy-CloudMan-1449500413 (active dates: 2015-12-18 -> 2016-03-24)
- AMI: ami-d1c77fba
- Name: Galaxy-CloudMan-1440625733 (active dates: 2015-09-03 -> 2015-12-18)
- AMI: ami-a7dbf6ce
- Name: Galaxy CloudMan 2.3 (active dates: 2014-01-07 -> 2015-09-03)
- AMI: ami-118bfc78
- Name: 861460482541/Galaxy CloudMan 2.0
- AMI: ami-da58aab3
- Name: 861460482541/galaxy-cloudman-2011-03-22
- AMI: ami-9a7485f3
- Name: 861460482541/galaxy-cloudman-2010-01-12
- AMI: ami-228a7e4b
- Name: 115971652512/galaxy-cloudman-2010-10-08
- AMI: ami-ed03ed84
- Name: 115971652512/galaxy-2010-04-20_2
Note, the AMI ami-561bc93f, 072133624695/galaxy-cloudman-2012-02-26 is from unknown origin, and not supported.
Citing and Publications
If Galaxy on the Cloud has been significant to a project that has led to an academic publication, please acknowledge the contribution by citing the following paper:
- Afgan E., Baker D., Coraor N., Goto H., Paul I.M., Makova K.D., Nekrutenko A., Taylor J., "Harnessing cloud computing with Galaxy Cloud," Nature Biotechnology, Vol 29, Issue 11, 2011.
Thank you!
For a complete list of publications and presentations linked to CloudMan and Galaxy on the Cloud, see this page.