HI there,
I work for Dr. Sonia Anand in the Medicine department of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The project we are working on requires the set up of queriable/searchable database(s) that can handle a large volume of clinical, diet, microbiome, methylation, genotype and expression data. We have 4 cohorts worth of data that we want to store and access from one platform (even though we will be using multiple database softwares to actually store the data) because we want all data to be able to be linked back to an id number. Ideally we are creating something user-friendly that would allow others to view what data we have collected (hence searchable) while not actually giving the data away (we want to be able to control who has access to the data - i.e. create user accounts for them with their requested data if approved). So far we are thinking of using a software called Opal to store our clinical and dietary data as well as Mica, a web-based software that will act as the platform from which interested parties could view and request data from. However, we still need multiple other software to be able to store the other types of data (methylation, microbiome, genotype and expression data). So where Galaxy comes in (I think) is with regards to our genotype data. From what I've gathered, we would want to create our own Galaxy system as a multi-user production environment. Ideally, we would have this system linked to our Mica web page so that our data is still linked in some way.
So on that note, would someone be able to tell me if Galaxy is suitable for this type of project? I have already looked into the installation instructions. What I'm more interested in is the data storage aspect. Can it only store genome data or can it also store say methylation data? We want to use as few software as we need to accommodate our data storage issue.
Sorry for the long email. I hope I explained everything well enough. We have a large task on our hands so any input at all is greatly appreciated! Alecia Korkowski Data Management Assistant McMaster University 1280 Main St. West, MDCL Rm. 3200Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8