Database developer Tokutek said this week that researchers at the University of Montreal have selected its TokuDB database storage engine to manage their medical and population genomics research data.
The lab is using TokuDB to house mutation data collected from 1,400 individuals. Researchers are using the data to study how genetics and environment influence the frequency and severity of diseases in human populations.
Thibault de Malliard, a bioinformatics research assistant who was tasked with managing the lab's data, explained that he selected TokuDB because it was able to support the lab’s database, which is currently around 200 gigabases but could grow to 500 GB or even 1 TB within the next year.
The new system gives the lab’s researchers access to all the data they need to run queries quickly and also allows them to make comparisons between datasets, he said in a statement
According to its developers, TokuDB is an open source storage engine for MySQL and MariaDB that is ideal for complex high-volume applications that require fast response time and that must simultaneously store and query large volumes of rapidly arriving data.