Overview of CLC Genomics Cloud

With access to a CLC Genomics Cloud setup, analyses can be submitted from a CLC Workbench or a CLC Server to run on AWS EC2 instances, with results saved to AWS S3. Access to AWS S3 is built into CLC software, making it simple to upload data to and download data from the cloud. Data to be analyzed can be local or on AWS S3.

Image cgc-aws-interaction-diagram
Figure 1.1: The CLC Genomics Cloud is a combination of CLC software and AWS resources.

With access to a CLC Server there is substantial potential for extending the functionality of CLC software using External Applications, whereby non-CLC tools can be launched using CLC software. In combination with a CLC Genomics Cloud setup, external applications can be launched directly from a CLC Workbench, via the Toolbox or in a workflow context, to run on the cloud. See Integrating third party tools into CLC software for details.

All traffic to and from AWS is encrypted using a minimum of TLS version 1.2. AWS credentials provided in a CLC Workbench are stored, obfuscated, within user configuration files. Those provided in a CLC Server are stored, obfuscated, in the server configuration files. All EC2 instances run in a security group that rejects incoming traffic that was not initiated from the EC2 host.

A CLC Genomics Cloud setup minimally consists of:

  1. An AWS account with the relevant resources configured.
  2. A CLC Workbench with an AWS Connection configured for access to that AWS account.
  3. The QIAGEN CLC Cloud Module installed and licensed on a CLC Workbench.

With the above in place, analyses can be submitted from a CLC Workbench to run on the cloud (see Using a CLC Workbench to work on the cloud).

Jobs can also be submitted to run on the cloud via a CLC Server with the Cloud Server Plugin installed. Advantages of doing this are described in Using a CLC Server to interact with a CLC Genomics Cloud.

The QIAGEN CLC Cloud Module is frequently updated. A detailed list of new features, improvements, bug fixes, and changes is available at https://digitalinsights.qiagen.com/clc-cloud-module-latest-improvements/.

CLC Genomics Cloud costs

The cost of a CLC Genomics Cloud setup consists of the costs of CLC software licenses and the costs of the AWS resources used (EC2 instances used for running analyses, AWS S3 used for data storage). There are no costs associated with setting up the CLC Genomics Cloud environment on AWS and there are no idle costs.

To submit analyses to run on AWS EC2 instances, you need the following CLC licenses:

Pricing relevant to the AWS resources used by a CLC Genomics Cloud can be found at:

You are billed directly by AWS for use of their resources.