Create and manage your AWS instance: Glossary

Key Points

Create Your AWS Instance

  • Encrypted login keys must be used to secure access to AWS instances. A login key can be used with multiple instances.

  • A security group defines the communication channels to reach your instance. A security group can be used with multiple instances.

  • Your instance comprises a software environment (a Cloud-SPAN AMI) and a virtualised hardware plaform called instance type.

  • If you chose and instance type other than t2.micro, you are likely to incur billing costs; turn your instance off once you stop using it.
Manage Your AWS Instance

  • Your instance can be in the state Running or Stopped until you change it by selecting and operation on it. Temporary states include Pending, Stopping, and Terminating.

  • You can easily Start, Stop, Reboot (Restart) or Terminate (delete) your instance in the Instances menu page, option Instance state.

  • Access to your instance with ssh requires the use of login keys. Keep your login keys handy.

  • Should you change the instance type of your instance, try the next higher-level instance type for some time.

Glossary

accession
a unique identifier assigned to each sequence or set of sequences
categorical variable
Variables can be classified as categorical (aka, qualitative) or quantitative (aka, numerical). Categorical variables take on a fixed number of values that are names or labels.
cleaned data
data that has been manipulated post-collection to remove errors or inaccuracies, introduce desired formatting changes, or otherwise prepare the data for analysis
conditional formatting
formatting that is applied to a specific cell or range of cells depending on a set of criteria
CSV (comma separated values) format
a plain text file format in which values are separated by commas
factor
a variable that takes on a limited number of possible values (i.e. categorical data)
Gb
gigabyte of file storage or file size
Gbase
a gigabase represents one billion nucleic acid bases (Gbp may indicate one billion base pairs of nucleic acid)
headers
names at tops of columns that are descriptive about the column contents (sometimes optional)
metadata
data which describes other data
NGS
common acronym for “Next Generation Sequencing” currently being replaced by “High Throughput Sequencing”
null value
a value used to record observations missing from a dataset
observation
a single measurement or record of the object being recorded (e.g. the weight of a particular mouse)
plain text
unformatted text
quality assurance
any process which checks data for validity during entry
quality control
any process which removes problematic data from a dataset
raw data
data that has not been manipulated and represents actual recorded values
rich text
formatted text (e.g. text that appears bolded, colored or italicized)
string
a collection of characters (e.g. “thisisastring”)
TSV (tab separated values) format
a plain text file format in which values are separated by tabs
variable
a category of data being collected on the object being recorded (e.g. a mouse’s weight)