Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!uunet!aecom!naftoli
From: naftoli@aecom.yu.edu (Robert N. Berlinger)
Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.genbank
Subject: Re: Data banks and CD-ROM.
Message-ID: <2693@aecom.yu.edu>
Date: 26 Dec 89 18:43:52 GMT
References: <8912192350.AA01990@net.bio.net>
Organization: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY
Lines: 46

In article <8912192350.AA01990@net.bio.net>, BAIROCH@cgecmu51.bitnet (Amos Bairoch) writes:
> I always have the impression that managers of big computer centers tend
> to ignore what happening in the real world. CDs are not only a good
> and very cheap distribution medium, they are also an efficient on-line
> storage alternative. Ok they are slower than hard disk and it takes 2 to 4
> hours to run a Lipman and Pearson on the complete data bank, but buying a
> 386 system plus a CD drive and using it only for this purpose is much
> cheaper than using a VAX.
> 
> I saw someone quoting a price of $ 2000.- for a CD drive, well that's
> sure is an expensive one !  You have some discount house that sell drives
> for about $ 500.- List prices of most drives are around $ 1000.-

I agree that CD-ROM is a reasonable distribution medium for the data banks,
but you seem to imply that it will be cheaper for individuals than a centralized
storage and access point because everyone can get hold of a 386 and buy
a CD player for $1000.  That's simply not true if you scale it.

Suppose there are 30 labs within your institution that need this capability. 
There's $30,000 just for the players.  Then you need 30 subscriptions to each
data bank, etc.; you know what I'm talking about.

Compare that to one subscription stored on a central network
server which can provide virtual disk access.  Speed will be comparable
or better than CD-ROM directly, because the data can be stored
inexpensively (once) on fast hard disks attached to the server.

I also feel that a remote search submission facility does have merit
in this situation.  Let's face it -- a 386 is only so fast, and submitting
a job to a search engine could be the way to go.  In a network access
scheme, this will cut down on network traffic significantly.

It's true that given CD-ROM distribution it's within the reach of an
individual lab to afford the complete Genbank, and have convenient access to it
(i.e., not on floppies).  But once you start to talk about larger
numbers, the aggregate cost offsets the expense of a centralized facility.

Actually, I don't think distribution medium of the data should be much
of a concern -- more importantly users should concentrate on obtaining
and encouraging the development of more sophisticated software that
will provide the type of access that I'm suggesting in a seamless fashion.
-- 
Robert N. Berlinger                 |Domain: naftoli@aecom.yu.edu        
Supervisor of Systems Support       |UUCP: ...uunet!aecom!naftoli
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Albert Einstein College of Medicine |AppleLink: D3913