From the software point of view, the biggest question will be whether you want to install a queuing system, with TORQUE and Moab for example.
As GenoMax has pointed out, cluster administration is not trivial, and the biggest expense may be the salary of the personnel to administrate the cluster.
I really think off-site computing or cloud computing is the ideal solution for next-generation sequencing analysis. The administration of the cluster is then no longer your responsibility.
It may not always be possible however to do this at a reasonable cost. In Canada, researchers are provided access to computing clusters at no cost. I'm not sure how this could be done in other countries. For example, I wonder if it it cost feasible to use only Amazon Web Services. Perhaps not.
As GenoMax has pointed out, cluster administration is not trivial, and the biggest expense may be the salary of the personnel to administrate the cluster.
I really think off-site computing or cloud computing is the ideal solution for next-generation sequencing analysis. The administration of the cluster is then no longer your responsibility.
It may not always be possible however to do this at a reasonable cost. In Canada, researchers are provided access to computing clusters at no cost. I'm not sure how this could be done in other countries. For example, I wonder if it it cost feasible to use only Amazon Web Services. Perhaps not.
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