As announced in a previous post, we offer a Docker version of NCBI BLAST that you can use locally or on the Google Cloud where we have pre-loaded BLAST databases. We are happy to announce that the same functionality is also available on the Amazon Cloud. In addition, we now offer 23 different BLAST databases at each cloud platform.
As mentioned before, working with BLAST in Docker and the cloud has several advantages:
- Docker manages installation and maintenance of the BLAST programs and databases.
- Docker makes it is easier to integrate BLAST with other tools in your pipelines.
- NCBI BLAST databases are pre-loaded now on the both the Google Cloud and Amazon Cloud, providing fast access.
You can also use the BLAST Docker image on any Docker-enabled platform, such as another cloud platform or on your local computer — and you can still can use the cloud-installed BLAST databases.
See the BLAST in the Cloud and database information documentation to get started.