Georgia Cancer Center Integrated Genomics Resource & HPC Server

Abstract

Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University is home to a High Performance Computing (HPC) Server. One goal of the HPC server is to host the new Biorepository software, LabVantage. This software is a web-based laboratory information management system, which tracks samples throughout their lifespan. All specimens that the Georgia Cancer Center Biorepository receives is entered into LabVantage, which generates a unique barcode number for each sample. Chain of custody is recorded throughout the sample’s lifespan, from inception to eventual withdrawal. LabVantage organizes data such as patient demographics, diagnosis, organ site, and linked pathology reports. LabVantage is compliant with all regulations relevant to patient privacy and satisfies all regulations set forth by The College of American Pathologists (CAP). All Biorepository personnel are trained to maintain confidentiality of patient information according to HIPAA regulations. The HPC Server is also used for the analysis of complex data including Next-Generation Sequencing data (NGS). It is currently used to perform data analysis on datasets such as those obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The analyses that used to take several weeks can now be performed in a matter of days. Georgia Cancer Center HPC Server is composed of 544 total compute cores and an aggregated memory of 2.9TB. The system is composed of (15) PowerEdge R430 1U systems (128 GB RAM each), (1) PowerEdge R830 (1024 GB RAM) and a high-speed 10GbE interconnect for intra-node communication. The HPCC also houses 633 TB RAW storage capacity. We will also be integrating existing Cancer Center servers including our Illumina Compute system that collects data directly from the Sequencer housed in the Georgia Cancer Center Integrated Genomics Shared Resource and the existing Bioinformatics HPC (see configuration diagram below). Access to the server is available to all Augusta University employees. There is a nominal fee associated with usage and users are required to undergo training.