Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 4.3
Computer network conceptual map, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK.
Bioinformatics workers need not know the details of this complex physical architecture—the links in
virtual space are far more important. (Cuff et al., “Ensembl computing architecture.” Reproduced with
permission of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.)
diagrams of boxes (representing computers) connected by lines or ar-
rows (representing potential ssh connections between them). Although
bioinformaticians interacted with such systems only textually, such
movement relied on a latent mental image of how such machines were
virtually linked together.
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What are the contents of such virtual spaces? Virtual spaces are in-
habited by four types of objects. First, they contain data, either in fi les
or in databases. Second, they contain computer programs (software),
which might, at any given time, actually be using or manipulating data.
Third, they contain directories, which, along with the databases, are
